Ranchi: Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has filed a petition in the Jharkhand High Court seeking to quash a Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW) issued against him by the MP-MLA special court in Chaibasa. The warrant relates to a 2018 case involving alleged derogatory remarks made by Gandhi against then BJP National President Amit Shah.
The NBW was issued on May 22, after Gandhi reportedly failed to respond to earlier summons from the court. He has now been ordered to appear in person on June 26.
Gandhi’s legal counsel argued in the High Court that a petition under Section 205 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC)—which seeks exemption from personal appearance—is still pending in the Chaibasa court. Issuing a non-bailable warrant before that petition is heard is, therefore, premature and legally unjustified, the counsel contended.
The case was initiated after Pratap Katiyar, a resident of Chaibasa, filed a complaint on July 9, 2018. The complaint referred to a statement allegedly made by Gandhi during a Congress event, in which he said:
“No murderer can become the national president in the Congress. Congressmen cannot accept a murderer as the national president – this is possible only in the BJP.”
The remark was widely interpreted as a veiled attack on Amit Shah, then serving as the BJP’s National President.
In response to the complaint, the court had first issued a bailable warrant in April 2022. However, Gandhi allegedly did not comply with the summons. A non-bailable warrant was then issued in February 2024, following which Gandhi’s legal team filed a request for exemption from personal appearance. The trial court rejected the plea.
Gandhi then moved the Jharkhand High Court, which granted him temporary relief. But with the matter still unresolved, the Chaibasa court issued another NBW, prompting the latest petition to quash the warrant.
With inputs from IANS