The Supreme Court on Thursday decided to continue interim stay of criminal proceedings against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case lodged against him for his alleged remarks holding the RSS responsible for Mahatma Gandhi's assassination.
An apex bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and P C Pant also asked RSS activist Rajesh Kunte, the respondent in the case, to file his response within four weeks.
The counsel appearing for Gandhi, however, did not agree to the apex court bench's suggestion that he can settle the defamation case by regretting his alleged statement.
The apex court had on May 7 stayed the proceedings against Gandhi, pending before a magisterial court in Bhiwandi in Maharashtra's Thane district.
The Congress vice-president's lawyers had argued that the complaint was motivated and malafide and deserved to be quashed.
The prosecution had opposed the petition and argued that Gandhi can plead his case and lead evidence during trial before the magistrate.
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