Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday declined to set aside a 2019 summons served on Congress MP and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in a defamation suit stemming from his “commander‑in‑thief” jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A single‑judge bench of Justice N R Borkar threw out Gandhi’s plea challenging the Girgaum magistrate’s order, holding there was no ground for the High Court to intervene.
However, the court kept alive its 2021 direction that the magistrate put off proceedings in the complaint for six weeks, giving Gandhi a window to move the Supreme Court against the order.
Justice Borkar said he found no “perversity and illegality” in the magistrate’s order and saw no case for interference, as reported by The New Indian Express.
“This court finds no infirmity in the order. Hence, the petition is dismissed,” the court said.
Gandhi had challenged an August 28, 2019 order by a Girgaum magistrate that took cognisance of a private complaint filed by M H Shrishrimal, who identified himself as a BJP member.
The case arises from Gandhi’s 2018 “commander‑in‑thief” remark targeting Modi over the Rafale fighter jet deal.
From November 2021, the High Court had ordered the magistrate to keep proceedings in abeyance, sparing Gandhi from having to appear before the lower court.
According to the complaint, Gandhi defamed Modi at a public rally in Rajasthan in September 2018. Shrishrimal further claimed Gandhi repeated the remark in a video he posted on his personal X account.
Gandhi’s counsel, Sudeep Pasbola and Kushal Mor, urged the court to quash the proceedings, calling the complaint frivolous and arguing Shrishrimal lacked locus standi to set the law in motion.
They argued Shrishrimal was not an aggrieved person and, therefore, the complaint was not maintainable.
Shrishrimal, on his part, contended that Gandhi’s comments amounted to a direct allegation of theft against BJP members and Indian citizens linked to Modi.
He actively resisted Gandhi’s plea before the High Court.
