A Varanasi court has dismissed a plea against Rahul Gandhi over his remark calling Lord Ram a “mythological and fictional figure” during a speech at Brown University, as alleged in a complaint filed on May 12.
An MP-MLA court on Tuesday dismissed a petition against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi regarding his purported comments on Lord Ram made during a speech at a university in the US last month.
Advocate Harishankar Pandey, who initiated the petition, stated that Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Neeraj Kumar Tripathi rejected the plea, calling it “non-maintainable.”
The court noted that, according to the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2023, obtaining prior permission from the central or state government, or the district magistrate, is necessary in such matters, as stated by Mr. Pandey.
The lawyer indicated that he would now seek permission from the district magistrate and refile the petition.
A complaint was submitted to the court on May 12, in which Mr. Pandey alleged that during his speech at Brown University, Gandhi referred to Lord Ram as a “mythological and fictional figure.”
Mr. Pandey also requested that an FIR be registered under the applicable penal provisions.
Mr Pandey had described it as a “hate speech” that had hurt the feelings of “Sanatanis”.
The complaint was submitted on May 12 by advocate Harishankar Pandey, who claimed that during his speech at Brown University, Rahul Gandhi referred to Lord Ram as a “mythological and fictional figure.” Pandey requested that the court instruct the registration of an FIR under the relevant legal provisions.
He characterized Gandhi’s remarks as a form of ‘hate speech’ that, in his opinion, profoundly offended the sentiments of followers of Sanatan Dharma.
The criminal complaint stated,
“MP Rahul Gandhi and the Indian National Congress have become habitual offenders of such acts. In the matter concerning the great freedom fighter Veer Savarkar, the Hon’ble Supreme Court had strongly reprimanded Shri Rahul Gandhi (Member of Parliament and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha) and his party. However, these people refuse to mend their ways. They continue to make baseless and offensive remarks about the incarnations and great symbols of Sanatan Dharma, thereby insulting Hindus who follow Sanatan Dharma. By delivering hate speech, they have committed a serious criminal offense,”
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During an interaction at a US university last month, Gandhi rejected the BJP’s definition of what it means to be a Hindu and asserted that all significant Indian social reformers and political thinkers Jyotirao Phule, BR Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi, as well as Guru Nanak, Basava, and Buddha expressed the same belief,
“Carry everybody with you, satya (truth) and ahimsa (non-violence).”
The Congress leader had stated,
“This, to me, is the bedrock of Indian tradition and history. I don’t know of one person whom we consider great in India who wasn’t of this type. I can’t think of one. All are mythological figures. Lord Ram was of that time, where he was forgiving, he was compassionate,”
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