Rahul Gandhi called by Assam court to face trial on September 21

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi was on Saturday summoned as an accused by a magisterial court here to face trial in a criminal defamation case for his remarks against the RSS over temple entry episode in Barpeta last year.

Guwahati: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi was on Saturday summoned as an accused by a magisterial court here to face trial in a criminal defamation case for his remarks against the RSS over temple entry episode in Barpeta last year.

Rahul Gandhi

Kamrup Chief Judicial Magistrate Sanjoy Hazarika summoned Gandhi on September 21 to face trial under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code which states, whoever defames another shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine or with both.

Earlier on August 2, the court had deferred for Saturday its decision whether to issue summons against the Congress vice president as an “accused” in the criminal defamation case here. An RSS volunteer Anjan Bora had filed the criminal defamation case against Gandhi in the CJM, Kamrup’s court alleging that he had tarnished the organisation’s image by saying that he was not allowed by RSS members to enter Barpeta Satra, a 16th century Vaishnavite monastery, in Assam in 2015.

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