Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, will physically appear before the Chaibasa special court on August 6, following the Jharkhand High Court’s order staying a non-bailable warrant issued against him. The warrant had been issued by the MP-MLA court in Chaibasa in connection with a criminal defamation case filed by a BJP leader.
The case pertains to remarks made by Rahul Gandhi during a Congress convention on March 28, 2018, where he had allegedly made defamatory comments against leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
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BJP leader Pratap Kumar had subsequently filed a defamation petition in the Chaibasa court. Following procedural shifts, the case was initially transferred to the Ranchi MP-MLA special court in 2020 by the High Court, and later sent back to the Chaibasa court.
Despite the issuance of a summons, Gandhi failed to appear before the court on previous dates. This led to the court issuing a bailable warrant, and later, due to continued absence, a non-bailable warrant was issued. The court had ordered his physical presence on June 26.
The Congress leader had sought exemption from personal appearance through a petition, which was turned down by the lower court. Challenging this decision, his legal team approached the Jharkhand High Court with a plea to quash the order. The High Court heard the matter, accepted the appeal, and granted interim relief by staying the non-bailable warrant against him until August 6.
Advocate Dipankar, representing Rahul Gandhi, informed the High Court that the Congress leader was unable to appear on June 26 and requested that he be allowed to appear on August 6 instead. The court accepted this submission and modified the earlier order accordingly.
The petition seeking exemption from personal appearance had been filed on May 29 and was heard on Tuesday. With the High Court’s latest directive, Gandhi is now scheduled to appear in person before the Chaibasa court on August 6.