The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed criminal defamation proceedings against Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on his 2019 comments calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi “ Chowkidar Chor hai ”.
“Being a registered national political party, the BJP is definitely an identifiable body. The case stems from a private complaint filed by BJP member Mahesh Shrishrimal in 2018.
On prima facie reading of the statement, describing the PM, who is a member of the BJP, as a “commander in thief”, cannot be said to be limited only to the senior leadership of the party. Whether the imputation was in substance and what impact it will have on members of the party will have to be considered at the stage of trial,” Justice NR Borkar had said while upholding the magisterial court order. He alleged that Gandhi made defamatory remarks against PM Modi during a public rally in Rajasthan on September 20 that year, including the statement, “Hindustan ka chowkidar chor hai”.
