LUCKNOW: Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP from Rae Bareli, Rahul Gandhi, may face fresh legal scrutiny after a Special MP-MLA Court set aside an earlier order of a lower court and allowed a petition filed by a local advocate over his alleged remarks on Lord Ram during an event at Brown University in the United States in 2025.
According to the petitioner, advocate Harishankar Pandey, the court of Additional Sessions Judge/Special Judge (MP-MLA Court) Yajuvendra Vikram Singh, on Wednesday, quashed the magistrate's dismissal order and directed the Chief Judicial Magistrate (MP-MLA) court to reconsider the matter after examining relevant binding precedents and pass an order in accordance with law.
Pandey said the matter would now be heard again in the lower court, with the next date of hearing to be announced shortly.
According to the petitioner, during an interaction at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University in 2025, Rahul Gandhi allegedly referred to Lord Ram as a "mythological and fictional character". Pandey claimed that the remarks hurt the religious sentiments of millions of Sanatani Hindus.
In May 2025, he sought to initiate legal proceedings against the Congress leader under Sections 196 (promoting enmity between groups), 351 (criminal intimidation), 353 (statements conducing to public mischief) and 356 (defamation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). He requested the court to summon Rahul Gandhi and initiate legal action against him.
However, the Chief Judicial Magistrate's court dismissed the plea in the same month, holding it to be non-maintainable on the ground that the petitioner had not obtained the prior sanction required from the Government of India or other competent authorities under the law, Pandey said.
Challenging that order, Pandey filed a revision petition before the District Judge's court on September 26. The matter was subsequently transferred to the MP-MLA Court.
Following the latest order, the case will return to the lower court for reconsideration. According to the petitioner, a notice will also be issued to Rahul Gandhi as part of the summoning process.
