Everyone is treated equally, Supreme Court says in Rahul defamation case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said everyone is treated equally as it responded to a claim by the complainant's lawyer in a defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi that the matter had not been listed for hearing in a long time.

“All matters are treated equally. Please file an appropriate application,” a Bench led by CJI Surya Kant told senior counsel Gaurav Bhatia after he urged it to take up the matter at an early date and sought it to be de-tagged from the other cases with which it had been listed for hearing.

“The Rahul Gandhi matter should be taken up for an early hearing and de-tagged from the other matters. The case has been getting adjourned and the petitioner has not been appearing on the dates fixed. The matter was listed about five months ago as well, but could not be taken up,” Bhatia told the Bench.

The top court was hearing Gandhi's petition challenging a May 29, 2025 order of the Allahabad High Court. The high court had dismissed Gandhi's plea challenging the trial court's summoning order in the case related to his allegedly derogatory remarks against the Indian Army during his 2022 Bharat Jodo Yatra.

On August 4 last year, the top court had stayed further proceedings in the complaint case pending before a Lucknow court till the next date of hearing. On December 4, it admitted Gandhi's appeal and said it would hear the matter in detail.