Varanasi Court Rejects Plea Seeking FIR Against Rahul Gandhi Over His Remarks On Sikhs During US Trip

The plea filed by one Nageshwar Mishra claimed that Gandhi had made the objectionable statement during his visit to America wherein he had said that there is an atmosphere of insecurity among Sikhs in India.

#JustIN | #VaranasiCourt REJECTS the application filed seeking registration of an #FIR against Congress leader and LoP in LokSabha Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) over his alleged remarks on Sikhs during his recent US trip (September 2024) pic.twitter.com/ofDn3snuPE

— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) November 28, 2024

In his plea, it was alleged that the statement was a provocation, and by making it, he was inciting people to fight for his political interests.

The applicant also contended that similar 'propaganda' was spread by Gandhi during a Rally organized at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi on December 14, 2019, which resulted in a massive protest at Shaheen Bagh, Delhi, which tragically ended with violence and anarchy.

Against the backdrop of these submissions, in its order, ACJM Neeraj Kumar Tripathi, at the outset, noted that for an alleged offence committed outside India, proviso to Section 208 BNSS provides that no such offence could be inquired into or tried in India except with the previous sanction of the Central Government.

Further, regarding Gandhi's alleged speech of 2019, the Court noted that the plea had not indicated any incitement or any act that could indicate the commission of a cognizable offence based on Gandhi's speech in Delhi.

Therefore, the Court said that it cannot be said that the speech given by the respondent in Delhi constitutes the commission of a cognizable offence.

Therefore, the court rejected the applicant's plea based on the mandate of this proviso to Section 208 BNSS.