For Rahul Gandhi, it is a pause, not an acquittal. The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the criminal defamation trial against him over his remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Rafale deal controversy, giving him breathing room while it examines whether the case should go on at all.

What the Supreme Court ordered

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Apresh Kumar Singh issued notice on Gandhi’s petition and ordered that further proceedings before the trial court in Maharashtra remain stayed. The respondents have been asked to file their replies within four weeks. Until the court gives further directions, the trial stays on hold.

What the case is about

The complaint was filed by BJP member Mahesh Shrishrimal and concerns a public speech Gandhi gave in Rajasthan on 20 September 2018, at the height of the political row over the Rafale fighter jet deal. Gandhi is alleged to have used insulting expressions about the Prime Minister, including phrases along the lines of “commander-in-chief” and “chief of thieves”.

The complainant argues that the remarks amounted to direct allegations against all BJP members and against citizens connected to the Prime Minister. In the Bombay High Court, he opposed Gandhi’s plea by saying that, as a BJP member, he too was aggrieved by words aimed at his leader. Reports say a Mumbai magistrate’s court began proceedings in 2019.

What Gandhi was challenging

Gandhi went to the Supreme Court against a 8 September order of the Bombay High Court, which had refused to quash the summons issued to him in the case. The High Court also continued an earlier 2021 order directing the magistrate to defer the hearing for six weeks, so that he could approach the Supreme Court. With Tuesday’s stay, the top court will now examine whether the High Court was right to let the summons stand.

What the stay does not mean

It is important to be precise about what happened. The Supreme Court has not decided whether the remarks were defamatory, and it has not cancelled the summons. It has simply paused the trial while it hears the matter. The outcome depends on the court’s eventual ruling on the High Court order.

Not Gandhi’s first brush with the courts over such remarks

This is part of a longer pattern of litigation around Gandhi’s speeches. In 2019, the Supreme Court closed contempt proceedings against him over a similar charge linked to the Rafale case, after he gave an unconditional apology and was told to be more careful. In 2023, it stayed his conviction in a separate defamation case over his “Modi surname” remark, which allowed him to return to Parliament. Those cases are different from this one, and we are not suggesting any link to the present outcome.

The political backdrop

The timing is notable. Gandhi, as Leader of the Opposition, has spent the week leading Opposition protests over the Election Commission and the SIR, and the BJP has accused him of trying to pressure constitutional institutions. The BJP and Congress are likely to read Tuesday’s order in different ways, and we have not seen either party’s response yet.

What happens next

The respondents have four weeks to reply, after which the court is expected to list the matter again. Until then, the trial in Maharashtra stays frozen.

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