The Madhya Pradesh High Court at Jabalpur has closed criminal defamation proceedings against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after he expressed regret over a statement made during the 2018 Madhya Pradesh Assembly election campaign, and the complainant, Kartikey Singh Chauhan, son of former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, agreed to bring the litigation to an end.
Justice Pramod Kumar Agrawal was hearing Rahul Gandhi’s petition under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), challenging a trial court’s order taking cognisance of an offence under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code and summoning him in a criminal complaint filed by Kartikey Singh Chauhan.
The complaint arose from a speech delivered by Rahul Gandhi at Jhabua on October 29, 2018, during the Assembly election campaign. According to the application filed before the High Court, he had made an allegedly defamatory statement referring to the “Panama Papers”. He subsequently clarified, on October 30, 2018, that he had intended to refer to the son of the former Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, who had been named in media reports concerning the Panama Papers, and not to the complainant or his father, who was then the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. Rahul Gandhi also expressed regret over the erroneous reference. The clarification placed on record by Rahul Gandhi stated:
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“Upon discovering that Respondent’s name erroneously appeared in the said statement, on the very next day, i.e. on October 30th, 2018, the applicant clarified in public that who he had intended to refer to was the son of the former Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh as having been named in the widely reported Panama Papers controversy and not the Respondent or his father, the then Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. The applicant, thus, expresses his regret. The applicant stands by the said public clarification and looks forward to voluntary cessation of proceedings.”
The respondent filed a written reply stating that, in view of Gandhi’s clarification and expression of regret, he did not intend to escalate the issue further and requested that the proceedings before both the High Court and the trial court be brought to a close.
Accepting the consensus between the parties, the High Court observed that Rahul Gandhi had expressed regret for the alleged defamatory statement and that the complainant had agreed to the closure of the proceedings. Accordingly, the Court ordered:
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“Considering the statement of applicant… as well as the reply filed… wherein regret has been expressed by applicant, the proceedings before this Court are closed and proceedings pending before the JMFC, Special Judge (MP & MLA)… shall also stand closed.”
The petition was accordingly disposed of.
