Bombay HC Rejects Rahul Gandhi’s Plea in Modi Defamation Case

The Bombay High Court has declined to set aside summons issued to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in a 2019 defamation case tied to his remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he had called a “commander-in-thief.” A single-judge bench led by Justice N R Borkar dismissed Gandhi’s petition against the magistrate court’s order on Tuesday. India TV NewsIndia TV News

Court Cites No Fault in Magistrate’s Order

Justice Borkar found no legal flaw or unreasonableness in the lower court’s decision to proceed against Gandhi, and saw no basis to intervene. Even so, the High Court kept in place its 2021 direction asking the magistrate to pause proceedings for six weeks, giving Gandhi room to move the Supreme Court against this latest ruling. That pause means Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, won’t need to appear before the magistrate for now. India TV NewsIndia TV News

Origins of the Complaint

The case traces back to a Girgaon magistrate’s August 28, 2019 order that set legal proceedings in motion following a complaint by BJP member M H Shrishrimal. Shrishrimal alleged that Gandhi’s comments defamed Modi during a public address in Rajasthan on September 20, 2018, and that he later shared a clip of the speech on his personal X account on September 24, 2018, again using the “commander-in-thief” phrase in reference to the Rafale jet deal. Bombay HC refuses to quash 2019 summons to Rahul Gandhi over ‘commander-in-thief’ remark against PM Modi – India TV News +2

Representing Gandhi, senior advocate Sudeep Pasbola and advocate Kushal Mor told the court the complaint lacked merit, arguing Shrishrimal wasn’t a directly aggrieved party and therefore had no standing to bring it. The bench, however, was not persuaded at this stage, with Justice Borkar noting that the BJP, as a recognised national party, forms an identifiable group — meaning claims linked to remarks about its prominent leaders couldn’t be dismissed outright at this point.

With the temporary protection from proceedings still in place, Gandhi’s legal team is expected to take the matter to the Supreme Court within the six-week window.