“Der Aaye, Durust Aaye”: Himanta on Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Zubeen Garg family

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to visit Guwahati tomorrow on a completely private trip, with no party-related events included in his itinerary.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma commented on the visit, saying, “Der aaye, durust aaye” (Better late than never). 

He added that the Congress leader’s visit comes 28 days after the singer’s demise, noting that while many had come earlier to condole Zubeen Garg’s passing, Rahul Gandhi is arriving now.

As per reports, Rahul is expected to arrive in the city by 1 PM on October 17, and will first proceed to Sonapur to pay his respects at the Samadhi Khetra of Assam’s late cultural icon Zubeen Garg. 

Also Read: Gauhati High court quashes additional witness order against Rahul Gandhi in defamation case

Following this, he will visit the bereaved family at Kahilipara before returning to Delhi.

On the otherhand, the Gauhati High Court has set aside an order allowing additional witnesses in a nine-year-old criminal defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, providing him relief in the long-running legal matter.

A single-judge bench of Justice Arun Dev Choudhury, in a criminal revision petition hearing on Monday, quashed the September 2023 order of the Additional Sessions Judge of Kamrup Metropolitan, who had permitted the inclusion of new witnesses in the trial.

The case, filed by RSS worker Anjan Kumar Bora, dates back to 2015 when Gandhi claimed he was prevented from entering Barpeta Satra by RSS workers. Bora alleged the Congress leader made false statements and filed a criminal defamation petition. The trial court had initially disallowed the listing of three additional witnesses after recording statements from six witnesses in March 2023. Bora challenged that decision, leading to the Sessions Court’s order to admit new witnesses.