Overview

• On May 27, an MP-MLA Special Court in Varanasi dismissed a petition seeking an FIR against Rahul Gandhi for calling Lord Ram “mythological” during an April 21 speech at Brown University.
• Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Neeraj Kumar Tripathi ruled the complaint non-maintainable due to the absence of Lok Sabha Speaker approval for prosecuting an MP.
• The court also cited lack of prior permission required under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 as a basis for rejection.
• Petitioner Advocate Harishankar Pandey alleged Gandhi’s remarks amounted to hate speech under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
• Pandey plans to seek Speaker sanction and file a revision petition to revive the case against the Congress leader.