Defamation complaint against Rahul, Yechury over remarks on Lankesh murder

In the complaint, RSS member Joshi alleged that they had blamed the RSS for murder

An RSS activist has filed a complaint in a magistrate court here against Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury for allegedly linking the organisation to the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh.

"I have filed a case of criminal defamation and the hearing is likely to take place on October 22," lawyer Dhrituman Joshi, who filed the complaint, said.

In the complaint filed on Friday, Joshi cited some purported remarks by Gandhi and Yechury and alleged that they had blamed the RSS for the murder.

"Statements made by the accused and the respective political parties are in utmost sense defamatory and belittle the RSS in the eyes of common public. There was a definite move by the accused to tarnish the image of the RSS, without citing any proof," Joshi alleged in his complaint.

He said that being an RSS worker, he was humiliated and defamed before the common people.

The complaint claimed that the comments, which are "defamatory and detrimental to the image of the RSS", have been made without any proof or official statement by the investigating authorities.

Joshi has also made the Congress, its president Sonia Gandhi and the CPI(M) as party to his complaint.

Journalist Lankesh was killed on September 6 by unidentified assailants at her residence in Karnataka.

Rahul Gandhi is already facing a defamation case in a court at Bhiwandi in Thane district over his alleged comment against the RSS regarding Mahatma Gandhi's assassination.