Rahul Gandhi Expresses Regret Over Remarks in Kartikya Singh Defamation Case

Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, has expressed regret before the Madhya Pradesh High Court over a 2018 statement that led to a defamation lawsuit filed by Kartikya Singh.

The case stems from an election rally in Jhabua in 2018, during which Gandhi allegedly referenced the Panama Papers leak while mentioning Singh. Singh, the son of Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, subsequently filed a criminal defamation complaint before a special MP-MLA court in Bhopal, alleging that the remarks damaged his reputation.

After the trial court issued a summons directing Gandhi to appear personally, the Congress leader approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking to quash both the summons and the defamation proceedings.

In the plea filed through his counsel on Wednesday, Gandhi clarified that his remarks were not intended to refer to Singh and expressed regret over the statement. The petition is scheduled for a hearing on Thursday before Justice Pramod Kumar Agarwal, who has directed the petitioner to produce the lower court records. Advocate Sankalp Kochhar appeared on behalf of the complainant during the initial proceedings, PTI reported. 

Amit Malviya’s Response

The development triggered a sharp reaction from Amit Malviya, the head of the BJP’s IT Cell. Criticising Gandhi in a post on X, Malviya stated that the Congress leader has “a pattern of making controversial remarks and later walking back from them”.

“Rahul Gandhi should perhaps make ‘Sorry’ his middle name. One has lost count of the number of times he has had to apologise, express regret, or retract his defamatory and irresponsible statements,” Malviya wrote.

Questioning Gandhi’s credibility, Malviya added, “A Leader of Opposition is expected to exercise responsibility, not indulge in reckless accusations and then disown them later.”