Rahul Gandhi not MP any more, can appear in defamation case in Thane: Complainant tells court
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Thane (PTI): An RSS activist, who had initiated criminal proceedings for defamation against Rahul Gandhi, has informed a court here about the Congress leader's disqualification after his conviction in a similar case in Gujarat, and opposed his application seeking permanent exemption from appearance.
The complainant, Rajesh Kunte, had in 2014 filed a private complaint before the Bhiwandi magistrate's court after watching Gandhi's speech where he allegedly accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination.
Kunte claimed this statement slandered the reputation of the RSS.
Gandhi had appeared before the court in June 2018 and pleaded not guilty.
Last year, he had filed an application seeking permanent exemption from appearing in the court on the ground that he was a Member of Parliament who had to visit his constituency, attend the party work and travel a lot.
Two days back, Kunte, while opposing Gandhi's application, submitted a pursis (written note/information) to the court saying after Gandhi's conviction by a Surat court in a defamation case, the Congress leader was disqualified.
Kunte submitted that since Gandhi is not an MP any more, his application seeking permanent exemption stands to be infructuous (pointless/unnecessary).
He added that the offence under which Gandhi was held guilty and sentenced to two years in jail was of a similar nature to the present case.
The court took note of the same and posted the matter on April 1 for orders on Gandhi's application seeking permanent exemption, Gandhi's advocate Narayan Iyer said.
The court in Surat had on March 23 sentenced Gandhi to two years in jail in the 2019 criminal defamation case filed against him over his "why all thieves have Modi surname" remarks. But the court also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court. The next day, he was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha.
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Tirupati laddu row: Samples of Ayodhya Ram temple 'prasad' sent for testing
Ayodhya, Sep 27: The Food Safety and Drug Administration Department on Friday collected samples of 'elaichi daana' or cardamom seeds being distributed as 'prasad' at the Ram Janmabhoomi temple here and sent them for testing, officials said.
The action was taken following a complaint lodged through the Integrated Grievance Redressal System (IGRS), Assistant Food Commissioner Manik Chand Singh said.
Singh said the samples were procured from Haiderganj, where the cardamom seed offerings are prepared and sent to the Jhansi State Laboratory for comprehensive testing and evaluation.
Prakash Gupta, the officer in charge of the Ram Temple trust, revealed that on average, around 80,000 packets of cardamom seeds are distributed daily as a sacred offering.
Amid a row over the alleged presence of animal fat in laddus at the Tirupati Temple in Andhra Pradesh, the chief priest of the Ram temple here on Thursday questioned the purity of ghee being sold nationwide and said 'prasad' should be prepared under the supervision of temple priests only.
