Supreme Court extends stay on summons against Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government has accused Lok Sabha leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi of deliberately indulging in "spread of hatred and enmity within the society through pre-planned actions". This has been submitted by the Yogi Adityanath-led UP government in the Supreme Court opposing a plea filed by Gandhi seeking quashing of summons issued to him by a Lucknow Magistrate for making alleged adverse remarks against Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

Urging the SC to dismiss Gandhi's plea, the UP government, in its response, submitted that the magistrate "properly applied judicial mind to facts and evidence, determining a prima facie case under Section 153-A and 505 IPC". The said summons were issued by a Lucknow Magistrate on December 12, 2024.

Meanwhile, the top court on Friday extended the stay of summons issued to Gandhi in a criminal case initiated against him for his remarks against Savarkar. A bench headed by Justice Dipankar Datta listed the case after four weeks after the complainant, Nripendra Pandey, a Lucknow resident, sought time to file his response to the plea filed by Gandhi. The SC in April this year had stayed the summons issued to Gandhi but took strong exception to his remarks that Savarkar was a "collaborator" with the British who received pension from them.


A division bench comprising Justices Dipankar Datta and Manmohan had (in April) remarked that Gandhi's statements were "irresponsible". The bench had also warned that if Gandhi repeated similar remarks in the future, the bench will initiate suo motu action against him.