Bombay HC refuses to quash defamation case against Rahul Gandhi for ‘choron ke sardar’ comment
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The Bombay High Court on Tuesday refused to quash the criminal defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for remarks in which he referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “choron ke sardar” or “leader of thieves”, Live Law reported.
The complaint, filed by a Bharatiya Janata Party worker, pertains to a speech made by Gandhi in September 2018. While campaigning for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan, Gandhi referred to Modi as “choron ke sardar” while speaking about the Rafale fighter jet deal, the Economic Times reported.
Gandhi and the Congress had also used the slogan “chowkidar chor hai” or the “the watchman is a thief” during the 2019 elections campaign to claim that Modi had acted as a middleman for industrialist Anil Ambani in the Rafale deal. A separate defamation case was filed over the slogan.
The complainant contended that Gandhi’s remarks were directed at Modi and, by extension, at the BJP and its members, lowering their reputation.
He argued that by referring to Modi, a BJP member, as “choron ke sardar”, Gandhi had portrayed BJP members as “thieves”, giving party workers the right to initiate defamation proceedings, Live Law reported.
Gandhi had challenged the maintainability of the complaint and moved the High Court, arguing that the remarks did not name any political party or its members.
Justice Nitin Borkar rejected...