Ranchi: The Jharkhand High Court on Friday passed a stay order on notice issued by a lower court in Ranchi to Congress leader and MP from Kerala's Wayanad Rahul Gandhi. The court also asked petitioners to file written arguments on the matter. The court fixed February 17 as the next date for the hearing.
The High Court bench headed by Justice Ambuj Nath was hearing an interlocutory application (IA) filed by petitioners on behalf of Rahul Gandhi after BJP leader Naveen Jha filed a complaint case against Gandhi in the lower court.
Jha had filed the case in 2019 after Rahul Gandhi allegedly passed objectionable remarks against Amit Shah during an election campaign in Chaibasa, Jharkhand. At that time Rahul Gandhi had said that, "a murderer can become president of the BJP but this cannot happen in Congress".
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Earlier, Naveen Jha had given a legal notice asking Rahul Gandhi to apologize for his remarks against Amit Shah. However, Rahul has not sought an apology after which Naveen Jha filed a complaint. Recently, the Judicial Magistrate court issued a notice to Rahul Gandhi to appear before the court on February 4.
“There was a complaint filed against then Congress President Rahul Gandhi in Ranchi Civil court in 2018. Today, a bench of Jharkhand High Court presided over by Hon’ble Justice Ambuj Nath issued a stay order against coercive action. The court also directed the petitioners to file written arguments. 17 February has been fixed as the date of the next hearing,” said Advocate Dheeraj Kumar.
