Published Oct 13, 2026 | 12:39 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 13, 2026 | 1:49 PM
Supreme Court. (iStock)
The Supreme Court on Tuesday, 13 October, temporarily stayed the trial proceedings against Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case against him before a Maharashtra court over his remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The case arose from Gandhi’s 2018 remarks where he used terms like “commander-in-thief” and “Choron Ke Sardar” while criticising the prime minister regarding the Rafale fighter jet deal.
According to Livelaw, a bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh issued notice returnable in 4 weeks on Gandhi’s plea against the Bombay High Court’s September 8 order refusing to quash the criminal defamation case.
“Issue notice returnable in 4 weeks. In the meantime, further proceedings before the trial court shall remain stayed”, the Court ordered.
The complaint was instituted by one Mahesh Shrishrimal, a worker of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), before a Metropolitan Magistrate, who had issued summons to Gandhi. The complainant contended that the remarks were aimed at the Prime Minister and, by extension, the ruling party and its members, thereby lowering their reputation. According to him, referring to Modi as “Choro Ke Sardar” effectively portrayed all BJP members as “thieves”, giving party workers the right to initiate defamation proceedings.
Livelaw further reported that Gandhi had moved the Bombay High Court against the Magistrate court’s summons, calling the BJP worker’s complaint not maintainable. His case was that he had not named the party and had not targeted any “identifiable or definite class,” so there was no clearly aggrieved person or group with locus standi to prosecute.
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(Edited by Sumavarsha)
