- Supreme Court asserts equality, no VVIP treatment for Rahul Gandhi.
- Petitioner alleged delay in defamation case hearing against Gandhi.
- CJI bench asked for application for early hearing in the matter.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday emphasised that everyone is equal before it after a complainant in a criminal defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that the court registry was treating the Leader of Opposition as a 'VVIP.'
A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohanna observed that senior advocate Gaurav Bhatia, appearing for former Uday Shankar Sharma, former Border Roads Organisation director, complained that the appeal was listed five months ago but has not been taken up for hearing.
"He is not a VVIP. The matter was listed five months ago also and was not taken up. This does not augur well for the institution as well,” said Bhatia.
Notably, in December 2025, the court had ordered the matter be listed on April 22. The CJI-led bench has asked Bhatia to move an application for an urgent hearing.
"Let us follow the procedure. File an application seeking early hearing…Everyone is equal before us. Please file an application for early hearing. We will take it up,” said the bench.
Bhatia also sought reasoning behind the case being tagged with his other cases and urged the top court to de-tag it from the other matters with which it had been listed. He also alleged that Gandhi had not appeared on dates fixed by the trial court.
"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 submitted.
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What is the case?
The case stems from Gandhi's appeal against the Allahabad High Court order refusing to junk the criminal defamation proceedings against him over his remarks on the Indian Army during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in 2022.
The case was initially taken up by the SC in August 2025 by a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih, which had stayed further proceedings. In December last year, the court listed the case for final hearing on April 22. The case was, however, not taken up.