Defamation case: Rahul Gandhi says he will face trial; withdraws appeal from Supreme Court

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday withdrew his plea from Supreme Court for quashing of defamation case against him, and said that he will face the trial in lower court. 

"Rahul stands by his statement made in election rally against RSS for the killing of Mahatma Gandhi," Rahul's counsel Kapil Sibal told Supreme Court. "Rahul will not withdraw his words, he is ready to face trial," he added.

Meanwhile, the top court refused to grant Rahul Gandhi exemption from personal appearance before a lower court.

Last week, Rahul said that he stood by his words and would continue to fight against the divisive agenda of RSS. He said this after RSS ideologue MG Vaidya said that rather than twisting it, Rahul should come clean and show his generosity by offering an apology for his statement and accept before the court that what he had said was wrong.

Rahul had told the Supreme Court that he had never blamed RSS as an institution for killing Mahatma Gandhi but that persons associated with it were behind the assassination.

In his complaint, RSS' Bhiwandi secretary Rajesh Mahadev Kunte alleged that Rahul had, at an election rally in Sonale on March 6, 2015, said that 'the RSS people killed Gandhiji'. Kunte alleged that the Congress leader had sought to tarnish the reputation of RSS through his speech.

The case is pending before a magisterial court in Bhiwandi in Maharashtra's Thane district.