Congress president Rahul Gandhi may have pleaded 'not guilty' in a Bhiwandi court on Tuesday in connection with a defamation case filed against him by an RSS worker in 2014, but the complainant's lawyer has submitted Gandhi's affidavit in the court, which will require Gandhi to prove his claims that 'RSS people killed Gandhiji'.
Gandhi has been accused of defaming the RSS by purportedly blaming it for Mahatma Gandhi's assassination at a rally on March 6, 2014 in Sonali village, Thane. He had allegedly said: "RSS ke logo ne Gandhiji ko goli maari hai) RSS people had shot Gandhi." The Bhiwandi court on Tuesday framed charges against Gandhi in connection with his 2014 remarks.
An RSS worker from Bhiwandi, Rajesh Kunte, who was an RSS full-timer in Gujarat earlier, had filed a defamation case against Gandhi. Kunte's lawyer, Nandu Phadke claimed that after Gandhi pleaded not guilty, he moved an application under section 294, wherein he submitted documents, Gandhi's entire speech and most important – an affidavit that was filed by Gandhi before the Bombay High Court (HC). Phadke pointed out that Gandhi himself had presented the transcripts of his entire speech along with the affidavit to the HC.
He said, "Although the HC had rejected Gandhi's writ petition, Gandhi has nowhere stated that he did not utter those remarks against the RSS. The onus is on Gandhi to prove his claim."
After the hearing, Gandhi's lawyer Narayan Iyer said that his client (Gandhi) pleaded not guilty and rejected the charges levelled by Kunte. Iyer said that since the case involves historical facts, he made an application seeking a summons trial rather than a summery trial. "The summons trial will allow all the facts and material regarding the case to be produced before the court. Also, it will not require Gandhi to be present in the court for every hearing of the case."
While speaking to the media outside the court premises, Gandhi said that he would fight the case till the end, since it is an 'ideological battle'. Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gandhi said, "The PM does not utter a single word on fuel price hike and price rise. A bunch of 15 rich men are running the country."
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