Ranchi:
The Jharkhand High Court has rejected Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s plea seeking quashing of the proceedings against him in a lower court in connection with a criminal complaint.
BJP worker Naveen Jha had filed a case against Gandhi in 2019 for his alleged derogatory remarks against Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Justice Ambuj Nath of the High Court rejected Mr Gandhi’s plea on Wednesday but the order was uploaded on the High Court website on Friday.
The senior Congress leader had challenged the decision of a magistrate court in Ranchi, which had directed him to appear in person in the court for trial. Later, Mr Gandhi moved the High Court, which issued a stay order on any further action against him in the lower court.
The HC had also issued a notice to complainant Jha to appear in the case.
During one of his public speeches in Chaibasa ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Mr Gandhi had called Mr Shah a “killer”.
After recording the statements of the complainant and witnesses, Magistrate Anamika Kisku had found merit in the case against Mr Gandhi and directed him to appear before the trial court on February 4, 2023.
Later, the HC stayed the notice issued by the magistrate and ordered that “no coercive steps” be taken against Mr Gandhi.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
