MP High Court dismisses defamation case against Rahul Gandhi after apology

Jabalpur, June 26

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Thursday dismissed a defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after he expressed regret for mistakenly naming Kartikeya Singh, the son of Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, during a speech made nearly eight years ago. The Jabalpur bench closed the case after Gandhi submitted a written statement acknowledging the error and Kartikeya Singh accepted the apology, agreeing to withdraw the complaint.

In his submission, Rahul Gandhi said he had inadvertently referred to Kartikeya Singh while speaking about the Panama Papers leak during an election rally in Jhabua in 2018. He clarified that he had intended to mention the son of a former Chhattisgarh chief minister and had publicly expressed regret the day after making the statement.

Kartikeya Singh had filed the defamation complaint before a special court for MPs and MLAs in Bhopal, alleging that Gandhi’s remarks had unfairly linked him to the Panama Papers controversy and damaged his reputation.

With the complainant accepting Gandhi’s explanation and apology, the High Court ordered the dismissal of the case, bringing the long-running legal dispute to an end.