The Bombay High Court on Friday quashes Bhiwandi court's decision to permit certain additional documents as evidence in the criminal defamation case initiated by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker against Rahul Gandhi.

Justice Prithviraj K. Chavan issued the order in response to a petition by Gandhi, who claimed that the trial court permitted RSS functionary Rajesh Kunte to submit specific documents after an undue delay.

Recently, a Magistrate Court in Bhiwandi, Thane, accepted certain documents submitted by Kunte, the complainant in the case against Gandhi. The court admitted as evidence the transcript of the alleged defamatory speech that formed the basis of the defamation case.

Gandhi challenged this decision in the High Court, arguing that the Magistrate's order violated a previous order by a single judge of the High Court in a related petition filed by Kunte, which also concerned the same defamation complaint.

In 2021, Justice Revati Mohite Dere, acting as a single judge, dismissed a petition filed by Kunte that sought Gandhi's admission or denial of an alleged defamatory speech. Justice Dere reasoned that an accused cannot be compelled to admit or deny annexures to such a petition.

In the current petition, Gandhi argued that despite the 2021 High Court order, the Magistrate proceeded to accept the same documents, which would force Gandhi to respond by admitting or denying them.

The case originated in 2014 when Kunte accused Gandhi of defaming the RSS in a speech where Gandhi allegedly implicated the organization in Mahatma Gandhi's assassination. Kunte filed a complaint in Bhiwandi Magistrate Court in the same year.

The Magistrate Court acknowledged the complaint and summoned Gandhi. In 2014, Gandhi challenged this in the High Court, seeking to quash the criminal proceedings and attaching a transcript of the purportedly defamatory speech to his petition.

Although Gandhi's plea was dismissed, Kunte argued before the Magistrate that Gandhi's inclusion of the speech transcript implied ownership of it. The Magistrate rejected this, leading Kunte to appeal to the High Court.

In 2021, the High Court dismissed Kunte's petition, stating that merely annexing Kunte's document to Gandhi's petition did not make it a public document, thereby requiring Kunte to prove it according to the law.

On June 3, 2023, during Kunte's examination in court, the Magistrate admitted the 2014 petition and its annexures, despite strong opposition from Rahul Gandhi, prompting him to approach the High Court once again.

Case Title: Rahul Gandhi v State of Maharashtra and Ors