A court at Bhiwandi in Maharashtra‘s Thane district on Thursday ordered the complainant in the defamation case filed by him against Rahul Gandhi to pay Rs 1,000 as cost to the Congress leader for seeking adjournment in the case. Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) J V Paliwal ordered local RSS activist Rajesh Kunte to pay the amount to Gandhi.
Kunte had moved an application seeking adjournment, which the court rejected and imposed Rs 1,000 cost on him.
Rahul Gandhi’s counsel Narayan Iyer said the court fixed May 10 as the next date of hearing when the complainant will be examined.
Kunte had in 2014 filed the case against Gandhi after watching his speech in Thane’s Bhiwandi township, where the Congress leader alleged that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was behind the killing of Mahatma Gandhi. Kunte had claimed that this statement slandered the reputation of the RSS.
In 2018, a court in Thane had framed charges against Gandhi in the case, but he had pleaded not guilty to the charges.