Rahul Gandhi moves Jharkhand High Court against non-bailable warrant in defamation case

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has filed a petition before the Jharkhand High Court, challenging a non-bailable warrant issued against him by a special MP-MLA court in Chaibasa for his remarks against Union Home Minister Amit Shah, The Hindu reported.

Gandhi, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, has requested the High Court to quash the warrant issued in May. The warrant directed him to appear before the Chaibasa court on June 26 and was the second non-bailable warrant issued by the court.

The case pertains to Gandhi’s alleged defamatory remarks against Shah during a speech in March 2018, Bar and Bench reported.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pratap Kumar filed the defamation complaint in Chaibasa on July 9, 2018. The matter was later transferred to the Special MP-MLA Court in Ranchi in February 2020, following a Jharkhand High Court order, and then redirected to the MP-MLA Court in Chaibasa.

The High Court had earlier this year stayed another non-bailable warrant issued against the Congress leader by the civil court in February. However, the High Court, then, had rejected Gandhi’s petition to quash the criminal defamation case against him....

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