Kerala HC stays trial against staff members of Rahul Gandhi’s Wayanad office in vandalisation case

PTI, Jul 15, 2023, 10:51 AM IST

he Kerala High Court has stayed trial proceedings in a case against staffers of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s office in Wayanad for allegedly causing damage to a photograph of Mahatma Gandhi kept inside the office.

Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan issued an interim order staying the proceedings at a local court against four staff members of Rahul Gandhi in the case which was registered last year.

In June last year, the student wing of the CPI(M) had allegedly vandalised the office during a protest and later a case was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by a lawyer claiming that the photograph of Mahatma Gandhi was damaged by unnamed persons.

The ruling CPI(M) in Kerala had alleged that it was Rahul Gandhi’s personal staff who had damaged Mahatma Gandhi’s photo to put blame on SFI activists.

The court, in an order dated July 13, also issued notice to the complainant in the case registered in 2022.

The petitioners claimed that they were added as accused, and a final report was filed by the police.

Advocate T Asif Ali, who appeared for the petitioners, said none of the witnesses have attributed any role to the four staff members in damaging Mahatma Gandhi’s photo at the office.

The alleged incident was reported when a protest march of the SFI against the Congress leader turned violent.