‘Stand by what I said, will face trial’: Rahul to SC on RSS defamation case

Rahul Gandhi has been accused of blaming the RSS for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948.

New Delhi: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday told the Supreme Court that he is ready to face trial on charges of defaming Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

“I stand by what I said and will repeat. I am ready to face trial,” Rahul Gandhi informed the apex court through his lawyer and former union minister Kapil Sibal.

The Congress vice president withdrew petition from Supreme Court seeking withdrawal of case. However, the apex court refused to grant Rahul exemption from personal appearance before lower court handling the case.

Last week, the apex court had accepted Rahul’s defence that he never blamed the RSS as an institution for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, but only those associated with, it in the defamation case filed against him by the outfit.

A bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and R F Nariman, which was hearing the petition filed by Gandhi challenging the summons issued to him as an accused in a defamation case, said it will dispose of the petition if the complainant agreed.

The bench, which heard the matter for about half-an-hour, said \"what we understand is that the accused never blamed RSS as an institution that killed Mahatma Gandhi but the person associated with it.\"

In 2014, while addressing a rally in Bhiwandi, Maharashtra, Rahul Gandhi had alleged that members of the RSS had assassinated Mahatma Gandhi on January 30, 1948.

Gandhi was reported as saying, \"RSS people killed Gandhi ji. They opposed Sardar Patel and Gandhi ji.\"

In May 2015, Rahul Gandhi had moved the Supreme Court, seeking a dismissal of the criminal case. Later, on July 19, 2016, the Supreme Court said that indulging in 'collective denunciation' against an organisation is wrong.

The Congress vice-president has maintained that his statement on RSS' involvement in the Mahatma Gandhi killing was a historical fact and his counsel has asserted that his statement was within his right to free speech.

The case was by filed by RSS worker Rajesh Kunte against Gandhi in a Maharashtra court for allegedly blaming the RSS for Mahatma Gandhi's assassination.

(This article first appeared in Deccan Chronicle)