Supreme Court Stays Rahul Gandhi's Criminal Defamation Trial Over 'Chowkidar Chor Hai' Remarks

The Supreme Court on Tuesday, Oct. 13, stayed the criminal defamation trial against Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, over remarks he allegedly made about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Aparesh Kumar Singh issued notice to the Maharashtra government and to the complainant, BJP member Mahesh Shrishrimal. The notice is returnable in four weeks.

"Issue notice returnable in four weeks. In the meantime, further proceedings before the trial court shall remain stayed," the bench ordered.

What Gandhi said and what the complaint alleges

The complaint rests on two sets of remarks that, according to The Hindu, were allegedly made in September 2018. At a rally in Rajasthan on Sept. 20, Gandhi allegedly said, "Hindustan ka chowkidar chor hai." On Sept. 24, he allegedly commented on a video on his personal X account: "The sad truth about India's Commander-in-Thief." He has also allegedly called Modi "choro ke sardar."

The remarks came during the Rafale fighter jet controversy.

Shrishrimal filed a private complaint seeking prosecution under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code, the criminal defamation provision. He alleges the statements imputed theft to Modi, and by extension to BJP members and other Indian citizens associated with him. He also claimed the remarks led to Modi being trolled across news channels and social media platforms.

How the case got here

A Girgaon magistrate issued process against Gandhi on Aug. 28, 2019. He went to the Bombay High Court in November 2021 asking to quash the proceedings. The High Court reserved its order in February this year.

On Sept. 8, Justice N.R. Borkar refused. He found no "manifest illegality or perversity" in the magistrate's order and held that it was not a fit case for interference under Section 482 of the CrPC.

The High Court also extended its 2021 order deferring the magistrate's proceedings by six weeks, so Gandhi could approach the Supreme Court. He did, as SLP (Crl) No. 19559/2026, and Tuesday's stay followed.

The legal fight: who counts as defamed

The dispute turns on a narrow question. Can a rank-and-file party worker sue over an insult aimed at the party's most prominent leader?

Gandhi's side says no. His counsel argued before the High Court that he never named the BJP or any party in the post, and that no "identifiable or definite class" was targeted. Without an identifiable aggrieved group, senior advocate Sudeep Pasbola argued, Shrishrimal had no standing to prosecute.

Shrishrimal says he has been an active BJP member for two decades. He argues that calling Modi the "Choro Ke Sardar" effectively portrayed all BJP members as thieves, which gives party workers the right to initiate defamation proceedings.

Justice Borkar sided with the complainant at this stage. He said that, on a prima facie reading, describing the Prime Minister, a member of the BJP, as a "commander in thief" "cannot be said to be limited only to the senior leadership of the party." Whether the imputation was in substance confined to Modi or reached party members "will have to be considered at the stage of trial," he said.

Borkar relied on the Delhi High Court's ruling in Shashi Tharoor's case, which held that a political party, by virtue of its registration, is an identifiable and determinative body.

The Supreme Court has not ruled on any of this. A stay is a pause.

Similar cases already pending

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Gandhi, cited earlier Supreme Court judgments and argued that the law on the matter was settled. He told the bench: "Two orders are there where notice is issued and stay on an identical issue. There are 199 matters and a third matter of Shashi Tharoor is also pending."

Whatever the Supreme Court decides on party-member standing could therefore reach well beyond this one case.

A separate 2019 episode

This is not Gandhi's first run-in with the Supreme Court over the slogan. In April 2019, the court issued a contempt notice after BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi moved a contempt petition, claiming Gandhi had said the court itself had said "chowkidar chor hai."

In May 2019, Gandhi tendered an unconditional apology. It was for wrongly attributing the phrase to the Supreme Court, not for using the slogan itself. That matter is separate from the defamation case.

What happens next

The Maharashtra government and Shrishrimal have four weeks to respond. The bench posted the case for further hearing after four weeks. Until then, the trial court cannot move forward.

The summons came in 2019, and the High Court refused to quash the proceedings in September this year. The case is still at the stage where the courts are deciding whether a trial can go ahead at all.

The question before the Supreme Court is whether a political party's rank-and-file members can bring a criminal defamation case over remarks aimed at its leader. The answer will govern Gandhi's case and potentially the other matters Singhvi flagged.