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

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.

Senior Advocate Angshuman Bora, representing Gandhi, challenged the Sessions Court ruling in July 2024. After a series of hearings, the Gauhati High Court dismissed the additional sessions judge’s order, instructing the trial court to expedite the case.

Justice Choudhury noted, "...in the considered opinion of the court, in the present case, the application filed before the magistrate was wholly vague and bereft of particulars. Therefore, the magistrate had rightly declined the prayer."

The order further criticised the sessions judge for “mechanically” overturning the magistrate’s decision without establishing the necessity of additional witnesses. It added, “The learned additional sessions judge did not consider that the foundation was not laid in the petition seeking the summoning of the witnesses, even to arrive at the satisfaction required.”

Calling the exercise “arbitrary” and legally unsound, the court quashed the order dated September 22, 2023, and instructed the trial court to ensure expeditious disposal of the case, given that Gandhi is a sitting Member of Parliament.

The defamation case has been ongoing since 2016, highlighting the prolonged legal challenges faced by high-profile political figures in India.