Rahul Gandhi: alleged caste slurs on PM Modi have been rejected by a Jaipur court

Rahul Gandhi: A revision appeal against former Congress president and opposition leader Rahul Gandhi for allegedly making caste-based statements on Prime Minister Narendra Modi was denied by an Additional Sessions Court in Jaipur. The court refused to become involved in the case and maintained a previous ruling from the lower court.

Judge Neelam Karwa of Additional Sessions rendered the decision on Tuesday after reviewing the revision petition submitted by attorney Vijay Kalander contesting a decision made by Metropolitan Magistrate Court No. 4.

The plea was dismissed when the judge noted that the complainant’s allegations and the evidence presented in court did not support it.

The complainant argued in the petition that the lower court had not adequately reviewed the complaint’s facts.

Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition and a prominent political figure, was accused of often agitating the people and changing caste identities, endangering the nation’s integrity and togetherness.

Rahul Gandhi reportedly said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a member of the Gujarati Teli group and not an OBC by birth at the 2024 Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Chhattisgarh, according to the complaint.

In 2000, the Teli group was included to the list of Other Backward Classes. According to reports, Gandhi said that the Prime Minister was first classed as a general and then became an OBC.

The comments were criticized by advocate Vijay Kalander, who said that they were harmful to national integrity and public harmony. He further said that Rahul Gandhi had made the remark while hiding his own caste identification, which the complaint said offended religious feelings and called for judicial investigation.

In the past, Rahul Gandhi’s comments on Prime Minister Modi’s caste have caused controversy.

He had said earlier that year at a public gathering in Odisha that “the BJP government of Gujarat made PM Modi an OBC,” a charge the BJP denied.

Amit Malviya, the head of the BJP IT cell, responded by releasing a copy of a Government of India gazette notice dated October 27, 1999, which said that the “Modh Ghanchi” group was included in the OBC category along with the “Ghanchi (Muslim),” “Teli,” and “Mali” populations.

Keshubhai Patel was Gujarat’s chief minister at the time, and Narendra Modi took over on October 7, 2001.

On the timetable of the OBC inclusion, however, there are conflicting opinions within the BJP. According to Narhari Amin, a BJP MP and former Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister, the “Modh” and “Ghanchi” clans were included in the OBC category on July 25, 1994, while Gujarat was governed by the Congress party. He pointed out that at the time, Narendra Modi had no executive role.

Rahul Gandhi has already been found guilty in a case like this. He was given a two-year jail term by a Surat court in 2023 for comments related to the Modi surname. This decision had important political and legal ramifications. Later, the conviction and punishment were stayed by the Supreme Court.