In a new development in the case, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has approached the Allahabad High Court against an order of a special MP-MLA court of Varanasi that had directed a subordinate court to hear afresh an application seeking registration of an FIR against him for his statement on Sikhs made during a 2024 US visit.
The matter is listed before a single bench of Justice Sameer Jain for hearing on September 1 (Monday).Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM MP-MLA), Varanasi, had on November 28, 2024, rejected the application filed by Nageshwar Mishra seeking registration of FIR against Gandhi, observing that as the speech was given in the US, the matter is outside its jurisdiction.
This order was challenged by Rao before the sessions court and the court of Special Judge (MP / MLA) on 21 July 2025 directed the ACJM to hear the matter afresh.Now, Gandhi has filed a revision petition in the Allahabad High Court against this decision. It has been argued that the order of the special court is "wrong, illegal and without jurisdiction".
During a programme in the US in September 2024, Rahul Gandhi had allegedly said that the environment in India is not good for Sikhs. The remarks were dubbed as "provocative and divisive" and there were protests against it.Varanasi resident Nageshwar Mishra had tried to get an FIR registered against Gandhi over this statement at the Sarnath police station of Varanasi, but when he did not succeed, he filed the application in court against the Congress leader.
An MP-MLA court in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi earlier last month accepted for hearing a petition filed against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his statement on Sikhs during his visit to the United States.Advocate Vivek Shankar Tiwari said a petition was filed in the court regarding the alleged objectionable statement made by Gandhi about Sikhs during his US visit in September 2024. It was dismissed by the additional chief judicial magistrate (special MP-MLA court) after hearing on November 28 last year.
Advocate Vivek Shankar Tiwari said a revision petition was filed in the Sessions Court and Additional District and Sessions Judge, Varanasi (MP-MLA court), Yajuvendra Vikram Singh accepted the plea on Monday for hearing.In the petition, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha has been accused of hurting the sentiments of the Sikh community with his "inflammatory" statement made in the US. It has also been claimed in the petition that Khalistani terrorist Gurwant Singh Pannu had supported Gandhi's statement.
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