Why Rahul Gandhi Must Face A Criminal Defamation Suit

Critics aver that the criminal defamation suit and the power given to the apex court and high courts to penalise contemners are blunt instruments to silence criticism. They go on to aver that in many advanced countries only civil defamation suits are permissible so that for loss of reputation suitable monetary compensation may be provided. Dead wrong. In India, the defamers are often both incorrigible and prone to plead pennilessness. Arvind Kejriwal in his salad days would charge anybody who crossed his path with corruption. That included Sonia Gandhi, Shiela Dixit, the former chief minister of Delhi, Mukesh Ambani, and who have you. Arun Jaitley and Nitin Gadkari showed him his place by filing criminal defamation suits. He cowered down and apologised, which showed he had no proof but only visceral hatred for his opponents. Rahul Gandhi, too, backed down, unable to substantiate his charges (https://swarajyamag.com/politics/claim-vs-reality-rahul-gandhis-history-of-saying-sorry). He apologised to the Supreme Court for misquoting it—chowkidar chor hai—during the heady days of Rafale fighter aircraft imports.

Criminal defamation suits are much needed to halt the reckless in their tracks. The fear of cooling their heels behind bars for years together either makes them slow with or recant their charges, especially if they are skating on thin ice or on shaky wickets. Civil defamation doesn’t unduly deter them, as they can wriggle out of monetary compensation by pleading insolvency. In any case, the likes of Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani are not interested in monetary compensation but in warding off slurs on their names. Narendra Modi, too, doesn’t need monetary compensation as much as he needs to protect his good name and reputation of being endowed with unimpeachable integrity.

This time round, Rahul Gandhi has charged his bete noire, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with stealing votes, whatever that means. He has been saying this since his Congress party’s drubbing in the Haryana elections, followed by another drubbing in the Maharashtra elections in 2024. It has reached its crescendo in the run-up to the upcoming Bihar elections. Earlier the charge was oblique—the BJP was colluding with the Election Commission of India (ECI) in stealing votes to facilitate its win. Now it is shriller and direct—Modiji wins elections by stealing votes. It suits Rahul Gandhi to fight Modi on the streets rather than in the courts. For court proceedings are strictly on the basis of evidence. On the streets and campaign trails, however, caution can be thrown to the winds. Hence, criminal defamation is what the doctor has prescribed. Again, criminal defamation is not for the faint-hearted or for the one harbouring a guilty conscience. Modi, therefore, should file a criminal defamation case against the incorrigible Rahul, taking inspiration from Nitin Gadkari and Arun Jaitley. And Rahul Gandhi should welcome it if he is confident of his grounds. If he chickens out, his reputation will go for a toss. Often, in India, defamation cases are both criminal and civil. So, Modi can also file both and distribute the compensation that he might get for Rahul besmirching his reputation to laudable causes, including the welfare of the girl child that is closest to his heart.

The ECI, too, may file a criminal defamation suit against Rahul Gandhi for spearheading the complicity charge in manipulating election results in favour of the ruling BJP. That it has not done so all these years shows its reluctance to stoop low in fighting political battles. Political battles must be fought by politicians. Modi, therefore, should not expect the ECI to take the initiative. Instead, he must throw the gauntlet at his tormentor without any delay. The case might drag on beyond the Bihar assembly elections. That should suit the BJP and Modi because it would immensely strengthen their campaign and conversely deflate the INDIA alliance’s chances. The putative apology from Rahul may take a long time coming; certainly not before Bihar goes to poll because if he throws in the towel before that and apologises, it will be counterproductive and show him in poor light as a spineless politician who cannot make his charges stick. The BJP, therefore, should fire the first volley with all guns blazing. The criminal defamation suit is more potent ammunition than any electoral promise, including freebies.

On Dec 14, 2018, the court dismissed all the petitions seeking a probe into the alleged irregularities in the Rafale deal, clearing the Union government of impropriety in the decision-making, pricing and selection of the Indian offset partner under the inter-governmental agreement. The Modi government did well to buy the aircraft, interposing the French government as the seller to ward off, if not pre-empt, kickback charges that were at the heart of the Bofors saga. That deal was entered into with the Swedish gunmaker by the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. While the inter-governmental deal did help in blunting the charge of favouritism and kickbacks, the fact that the deal was not merely to acquire fighter aircraft but to get them mounted with self-contained fighting equipment as a comprehensive package won the day for the government. Rahul had to apologise for misquoting the apex court.

Rahul Gandhi hates Modi viscerally, both for the BJP keeping him out of power and for mounting an attack on his father’s integrity, but he has to do more than hurl unfounded charges and invectives against Modi, the BJP and the RSS. But in the meanwhile, Modi should carry the war into Rahul Gandhi’s camp by filing a criminal defamation case against him. The vote chori charge on the Bihar yatra campaign trail might resonate with a section of the Bihar electorate. Modi must quickly stop him in his tracks with a defamation suit. Rahul Gandhi and Congress have unwittingly provided Modi and the BJP with another stick to beat them with—bringing his mother, Heera Behn, into the rough and tumble of politics and elections. The women electorate of Bihar, in particular, may seethe with anger and vote against the INDIA alliance on the back of the putative defamation suit and the irreparable damage caused to Modi by Congress riling and ranting against his mother.

S Murlidharan is a freelance columnist and writes on economics, business, legal and taxation issues.