Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that he never blamed the RSS as an institution for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi but a person associated with it.
A Bench, comprising Justices Dipak Misra and R.S. Nariman, which was hearing the petition filed by Mr. Gandhi challenging the summons issued to him as an accused in a defamation case, said it wouldl dispose of the petition if the complainant agreed.
The Bench noted that the Congress leader had filed an affidavit in the Bombay High Court while seeking the quashing of the defamation complaint against him, stating that at an election rally he had not blamed the RSS as an institution for the assassination of Gandhiji but a person associated with it.
The Bench, which posted the matter for September 1, asked the complainant’s counsel and senior advocate U.R. Lalit to seek instruction whether the complainant was ready to end the case if Mr. Gandhi’s statement is taken on record.Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Congress Vice President, drew the attention of the Bench to the affidavit filed in the high court.
The Bench, which heard the matter for about half-an-hour, said: “what we understand is that the accused never blamed RSS as an institution that killed Mahatma Gandhi but the person associated with it.”
