In the complaint, Kishore accused Rahul Gandhi of hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus. He further alleged in his complaint that the Congress leader made the statement in the Lok Sabha with the deliberate goal to offend Hindus. It is also stated in the complaint that his remarks will incite hostility in the community.
“A case has been filed against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Yesterday in the Lok Sabha, he stated the Hindus and my client Divyanshu Kishore had filed the case. The section which has been imposed is 299, 302, 356 (1) under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) of 2023. The court has accepted the complaint,“ said Sumit Kumar, the complainant’s advocate.
Notably, Section 299 of BNS deals with deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs. Section 302 deals with uttering words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person and Section 356 (1) deals with defamation.
The complaint came following Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s contentious remarks in the Lok Sabha on Monday, July 1, where he asserted that those who called themselves Hindus only talked about violence, hatred, and untruth.
On July 1 during the Motion of Thanks, Rahul Gandhi in his maiden speech in the 18th Lok Sabha said, “All our great men have spoken about non-violence and eliminating fear… But those who call themselves Hindu only talk about violence, hatred, untruth…”
His contentious remarks against Hinduism attracted sharp reactions from PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.