Mumbai court docket reject plea of Javed Akhtar in RSS defamation case

A Sessions court docket in Mumbai has rejected the revision software of lyricist Javed Akhtar, difficult summons issued by a Magistrate’s Court within the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) defamation case.

“The statement of the petitioner (Akhtar) in the interview was on a national channel and YouTube. The reputation of volunteers, and supporters of RSS, is tarnished and a message is given to the world that RSS is similar to the Taliban in Afghanistan. Thus, there is sufficient material to show the reputation of RSS is lowered,” the Sessions court docket famous.

The phrases uttered by the accused in his interview undoubtedly carry weightage and are heard by the general public at massive,” it additional added. The Sessions Court additionally noticed that the Magistrate Court was proper in its software of thoughts and held that there was prima facie proof for defamation.

“The accused is a highly renowned person against whom the process is issued. So also RSS is well-known in the nation with enormous followers and supporters. At the same time, Taliban and its activities are known worldwide, on which the interview of the accused was focused,” it emphasised.

The Background of the Case

The unique case was filed by an RSS volunteer and advocate named Santosh Dubey earlier than the Magistrate’s court docket after Akhtar in contrast the Hindu rights organisation with the unconventional Islamist outfit, Taliban in a 2021 interview with NDTV.

“The way the Taliban are trying to build a Muslim nation. In the same way, some people present the concept of Hindu Rashtra to us. These people have the same mentality. The Taliban are violent. Are wild. But the people who support RSS, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal have the same mentality,” Akhtar had stated.

After the summons was issued by the Magistrate’s Court, the lyricist approached the Sessions Court in Mumbai below the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) Sections 397 and 399. In a revision software, he claimed that Santosh Dubey has no locus standi within the case.

“There are no allegations against the petitioner either specific or general but just the fact that he expressed his thoughts over something does not constitute an offence of defamation and it does not give any right to the complainant to file a complaint,” his software learn.