Daijiworld Media Network

Thane, Apr 3: The Thane district sessions court has summoned AICC president Rahul Gandhi and CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, to appear before it on April 30, with regard to a defamation case that has been filed against them by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activist Vivek Champanerkar.

Champanerkar has alleged that Rahul and Yechury linked RSS with the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru, and has sought a token compensation of Re 1.

He claimed that the duo have always blamed RSS for any act of violence committed and insisted that the blaming should stop. He pointed out that the duo said anyone opposing RSS ideology will be silenced, drawing comparisons to Gauri Lankesh’s murder. Asserting it inappropriate to link RSS with Gauri’s murder, he said that the defamation suit has been filed.

It may be recalled that on September 6, 2017, a day after Gauri Lankesh was murdered, Rahul Gandhi had tweeted, "Anybody who speaks against the RSS/BJP is attacked &even killed. They want to impose only one ideology which is against the nature of India."

Dhrutiman Joshi, a RSS activist and lawyer, has also filed a case against the two in Mumbai court for the same reason. He alleged that Yechury had blamed "the RSS ideology and RSS men" for the murder of Lankesh.

"There was a definite move by the accused to tarnish the image of the RSS without citing any proof," Joshi had said in his complaint.

Besides this, Rahul Gandhi has also been charged with another defamation case for the comments he made about RSS regarding the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.