Varanasi, 10 June (HS): On Wednesday, a special MP/MLA court

in Varanasi heard a new case seeking criminal action against Congress

politician, LoP and Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi for allegedly portraying Lord Ram

as a fictional persona during an engagement in the United States.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (MP/MLA) Yajuvendra Vikram Singh granted

a criminal revision plea filed by counsel Harishankar Pandey and overturned an

earlier ruling of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) that had

dismissed the case at the threshold as unmaintainable. The revisional court

ruled that the Magistrate rejected the complaint prematurely without giving the

plaintiff a fair hearing and remanded the case for further consideration in

line with the law.

In the court judgment, the Special Judge stated that Rahul

Gandhi's claimed speech was made at Brown University in the United States, not

during parliamentary proceedings, and that the matter deserved due judicial

review by the Magistrate under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). Pandey

had contested the ACJM's conclusion that approval from Lok Sabha Speaker Om

Birla was required before moving against Rahul Gandhi, who represents Raebareli

in the Lok Sabha and is the Leader of the Opposition. In his complaint, Pandey

claimed that LoP Gandhi's words violated Sections 196, 351 and 353 of the

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), claiming that the statement wounded the

religious emotions of Sanatan Dharma believers and encouraged discord.

The complaint stated that Rahul Gandhi, during an encounter

at Brown University in Boston on April 21, 2025, referred to Lord Ram as a

legendary and imaginary character. Allowing the revision plea, the Special

Judge overturned the ACJM's decision and ordered that the case be reassessed in

conformity with the law. On May 27, the ACJM dismissed the complaint, stating

that it could not be pursued in the absence of permission from the Lok Sabha

Speaker to proceed against a sitting Member of Parliament. Following that judgment,

Pandey stated that he will contest the decision and seek necessary sanction to

prosecute charges against the Congress leader. The initial case also included

the All India Congress Committee (AICC) as a respondent, claiming that the

party couldn't avoid accountability for the words ascribed to its top leader.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi