The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed further proceedings in a defamation case pending before a Maharashtra trial court against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks concerning Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Aparesh Kumar Singh issued notices to the Maharashtra government and the complainant, MH Shrishrimal, seeking their responses within four weeks.

“Issue notice returnable in four weeks. Further proceedings before the trial court shall remain stayed,” the Bench ordered while hearing Gandhi’s plea challenging a September 8 order of the Bombay High Court, which refused to quash the summons issued to him in the case.

Senior Advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Gandhi, referred to previous Supreme Court judgments and submitted that the legal position on the issue was settled.
On September 8, the Bombay High Court dismissed Gandhi’s plea challenging a Girgaum magistrate’s order dated August 28, 2019, issuing process against him on the basis of Shrishrimal’s complaint.

However, the High Court continued its 2021 interim order directing the magistrate to defer proceedings on the complaint for six weeks to allow Gandhi to approach the Supreme Court.

The defamation complaint arose from a public speech Gandhi delivered in Rajasthan on September 20, 2018. The complainant alleged that Gandhi’s remarks against Prime Minister Modi amounted to defamatory allegations against members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Indian citizens associated with the Prime Minister.