Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said that he has withdrawn his plea from the Supreme Court for rejecting the defamation case filed against him. Gandhi said that he is ready to face trial over the case in a lower court in Bhiwandi.
Rahul, in his 2014 election speech at Bhiwandi in Maharashtra, had blamed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for the killing of Mahatma Gandhi. The organisation subsequently filed a criminal defamation case against him in Bombay High Court and demanded a statement from Gandhi, saying that the organisation has no role to play in Mahatma Gandhi's assassination. Gandhi had moved the Supreme Court in May 2015 seeking a stay on the Bombay High Court's decision that dismissed his plea for quashing the defamation case.
"Rahul stands by his statement made in election rally against RSS for the killing of Mahatma Gandhi. Rahul will not withdraw his words, he is ready to face trial," Gandhi's counsel Kapil Sibal told the Supreme Court.
"We are not inclined to interfere now. Let the trial Magistrate proceed according to law," the Supreme Court said. However, the SC refused to grant the Congress Vice President an exemption from personal appearance before the lower court in association with the case.
Gandhi said that he stands by his words against the RSS and would continue to fight against their divisive agenda.
In the previous hearing of the case, Gandhi had said that he never accused the RSS as an "institution" for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, but only certain people associated with the organisation. The hearing bench had also acknowledged "what we understand from the statement the accused (Mr. Gandhi) never blamed RSS as an institution that assassinated Mahatma Gandhi but the persons associated with it".
"The assassination of Mahatma was a result of destructive philosophy of the persons associated with the RSS. It was also clearly suggested that the assassins were associated or affiliated with the RSS. He never accused RSS as an institution of the crime," an affidavit filed with the Bombay High Court on Dec. 15, 2014 had said.
