A grievance within the matter was filed within the courtroom on May 12 with Advocate Harishankar Pandey alleging that Rahul Gandhi throughout his speech at Brown University had described Lord Ram as a “mythological and fictional figure”.

Varanasi:

An MP-MLA courtroom in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi district has dismissed a petition filed towards the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, over his alleged remarks on Lord Ram,  referring to him as a ‘mythological determine’ throughout a speech at a US college in May 2025.

What did the courtroom say?

Advocate Harishankar Pandey, who had filed the petition towards Rahul Gandhi, mentioned that the plea was rejected by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Neeraj Kumar Tripathi. The courtroom deemed the petition “non-maintainable,” thereby dismissing the case.

The courtroom cited that as per the provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2023, prior permission from the central or state authorities, or the district Justice of the Peace, is obligatory in such circumstances, Pandey mentioned.

The lawyer mentioned he would now search permission from the district Justice of the Peace and file the petition once more.

What was the case?

The grievance was filed on May 12 by advocate Harishankar Pandey, who alleged that in his speech at Brown University, Rahul Gandhi referred to Lord Ram as a “mythological and fictional figure.” Pandey urged the courtroom to direct the registration of an FIR beneath related sections of the regulation.

He additionally categorised Gandhi’s remarks as a type of ‘hate speech’ that, in his view, deeply damage the emotions of followers of Sanatan Dharma.

“MP Rahul Gandhi and the Indian National Congress have become habitual offenders of such acts. In the matter concerning the great freedom fighter Veer Savarkar, the Hon’ble Supreme Court had strongly reprimanded Shri Rahul Gandhi (Member of Parliament and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha) and his party. However, these people refuse to mend their ways. They continue to make baseless and offensive remarks about the incarnations and great symbols of Sanatan Dharma, thereby insulting Hindus who follow Sanatan Dharma. By delivering hate speech, they have committed a serious criminal offense,” the felony grievance acknowledged.

What did Rahul Gandhi say?

During an interplay at a US college final month, Gandhi rejected the BJP’s concept of what constitutes a Hindu and asserted all nice Indian social reformers and political thinkers — Jyotirao Phule, BR Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi and even Guru Nanak, Basava and Budhha — mentioned the identical factor, “Carry everybody with you, satya (truth) and ahimsa (non-violence).”

“This, to me, is the bedrock of Indian tradition and history. I don’t know of one person whom we consider great in India who wasn’t of this type. I can’t think of one. All are mythological figures. Lord Ram was of that time, where he was forgiving, he was compassionate,” the Congress chief had mentioned.

(With PTI inputs)

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