Bhiwandi Court Grants Bail to Rahul Gandhi in RSS Defamation Case

Mumbai: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi was granted bail by a court in Mumbai's Bhiwandi on Wednesday in a defamation case filed by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) functionary for holding the organisation's members responsible for Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination in a speech in 2014.

Gandhi was granted a bail on a personal surety by Congress Leader Shivraj Patil.

The next date of hearing on the case has been set for January 28 and the Congress VP is expected to be present during the hearing.

Addressing a group of workers immediately after the court hearing, Rahul said that his fight is against the people who want to stifle individual freedom and liberties of Indians.

"I have come to the court to fight for Gandhiji's ideology. On one hand is an ideology of freedom and on other is ideology that wants slavery. Those I am fighting against want to India to be pulled down so they can rule country," Rahul told a group of party workers.

While addressing a public rally at Sonale in Bhiwandi on March 6, 2014 Rahul had alleged it was "RSS people" who had killed Mahatma Gandhi.

"RSS people killed Gandhiji and today their people (BJP) talk of him...They opposed Sardar Patel and Gandhiji," he had said.

Rahul had earlier expressed his readiness to face trial after the Supreme Court refused to interfere with the criminal proceedings pending against him before the trial court.

The Supreme Court had rapped the Gandhi scion in July 2016 for his remarks asking him to either apologise or face trial in the case. "If you won't apologise, you will have to face trial," the court said pulling up the Congress leader for his remarks.

"We have held it may be historically correct but the fact or the statement has to meet the test of public good. You can't make collective denunciation," a Bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and RF Nariman said.

The Bench said that "freedom is not crippled or curbed. What is curbed is freedom of speech. What the writers, politicians, critics or antagonists say, you must have great magnitude to swallow".