RSS defamation case: Rahul to appear before Mumbai court today

Mumbai: Rahul Gandhi is likely to appear before a local court here on Thursday in connection with a defamation case filed against him by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker for allegedly linking the organisation with the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, sources said.
Hearing in the case is scheduled at 10 am at Mazgaon Metropolitan Magistrate court on July 4.
In February, earlier this year, RSS Swayam Sevak Dhrutiman Joshi had filed a defamation case against Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Sitaram Yechury and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for defaming the RSS following the death of Gauri Lankesh.
Later, the Mazgaon court had issued summons to Gandhi and Yechury for questioning in connection with the case. The court, had, however, dismissed the complaint against Sonia Gandhi and the CPI(M).
Lankesh, a senior journalist was murdered at her residence in Bengaluru on September 5, 2017.
In the complainant, Dhrutiman Joshi stated that Rahul Gandhi, within 24-hours of the murder of the journalist, criticised the RSS and alleged that “anybody who speaks against the ideology of the BJP, against the ideology of the RSS is pressured, beaten, attacked and even killed.”