Jharkhand High Court dismisses Rahul Gandhi plea against defamation proceedings for remarks about Amit Shah

The Jharkhand High Court recently rejected Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's petition challenging proceedings in a criminal defamation case filed against him for calling Union Home Minister and former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah a murder accused..Single-judge Justice Ambuj Nath noted that Gandhi had said that BJP leaders are liars who are drunk with power and that BJP workers will accept a person accused of murder as their president.These statements by Gandhi are prima facie defamatory in nature under Section 499 of Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Court said."Prima facie this statement points out that Mr. Rahul Gandhi has imputed that the Bhartiya Janata Party leadership was drunk with power and was composed of liars. It further means that the party workers of Bhartiya Janata Party will accept such person/persons as their leader. This imputation is prima facie defamatory in nature," the Court said while refusing Gandhi's plea.The case arose after BJP leader Navin Jha filed a complaint against Gandhi, alleging that Gandhi delivered a speech on March 18, 2018 criticizing the BJP and accusing Shah of being involved in murder..Initially, a magistrate court at Ranchi dismissed Jha's complaint prompting him to file a revision petition before the Judicial Commissioner in Ranchi.The judicial commissioner in Ranchi on September 15, 2018 overturned the order that dismissed the complaint petition and sent it back to the magistrate court.The judicial commissioner directed the magistrate to review the evidence on record again and issue a fresh order regarding the determination of prima facie material to proceed with the matter.Thereafter, the magistrate passed a fresh order on November 28, 2018 and concluded that there was sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case against Gandhi under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which penalises defamation. Consequently, the magistrate issued a summons for Gandhi's appearance.Gandhi then moved the High Court challenging the Ranchi judicial commissioner's order of September 15, 2018..The High Court observed that, on the face of it, the statement suggested that Gandhi implied that the leadership of the BJP was intoxicated with power and consisted of deceitful individuals."It further means that the party workers of Bhartiya Janata Party will accept such person/persons as their leader. This imputation is prima facie defamatory in nature," the Court added.The Court also adverted to Explanation 2 to Section 499 of IPC as per which imputations against a company, association or collection of persons would fall within the scope of defamation. "Thus, it is evident that the expression “any person” in Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code includes a company or association or a collection of a persons and Bhartiya Janata Party is a prominent political party which is well identifiable and will come within the meaning of Explanation-2 of Section 499 of IPC," the Court said while dismissing the plea.Advocate Kaushik Sarkhel appeared for the petitionerSenior Advocate Ajit Kumar along with advocates VK Sahu, Kumar Harsh, Abhishek Abhi,Surya Prakash and Suraj Kishore Prasad appeared for the respondents..[Read Order]