NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to express regret for his comments holding the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) responsible for Mahatma Gandhi's assassination or be ready to face a defamation trial. "Why did you make a sweeping statement against the RSS branding everyone associated with the organization in the same brush," the Supreme Court
asked Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday while hearing a defamation case filed against him. "You can't make wholesale denunciation of an organization," the SC bench observed. Rahul Gandhi's counsel tried to justify his remarks saying these are historical facts and even part of the government records. The apex court said that Rahul needed to prove what was the public good in his statement against the RSS and hence it was a matter of trial. The SC said that if Rahul Gandhi wanted to defend himself and was not ready to express his regret, than it will be better that he faced trial. A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and R F Nariman refused Rahul's request for two-week adjournment and posted the matter for hearing on July 27. Rahul wanted two-week's time saying his counsel Kapil Sibal is not free before that. The SC said this is no ground for adjournment and posted the matter for July 27, saying no further postponement of hearing would be allowed. "RSS people killed Gandhiji and today their people (BJP) talk of him...They opposed Sardar Patel and Gandhiji," Rahul had said while addressing a public rally in Thane district in March 2014. Rahul Gandhi had moved the Supreme Court in May 2015 for quashing the criminal case lodged against him for his comments against the RSS during an election rally in March 2015.
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