Congress Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, has petitioned the Allahabad High Court, contesting a Varanasi court’s directive to rehear an application that sought the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against him over comments he made concerning the Sikh community.
The case was brought before Justice Sameer Jain on Monday; however, at the request of the opposing party, the hearing has been postponed to September 3, 2025.
The legal controversy began when Nageshwar Mishra filed a plea in 2024, alleging that during a public event in the United States, Rahul Gandhi had suggested that Sikhs in India felt unsafe—remarks that were deemed provocative and politically motivated.
Mishra initially attempted to register an FIR at the Sarnath Police Station in Varanasi but, after the authorities declined, he filed an application before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM), MP-MLA court.
On November 28, 2024, the ACJM court dismissed the application, citing the proviso to Section 208 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which stipulates that offences committed abroad require prior central government sanction to be tried in India—thus lacking jurisdiction to proceed.
Undeterred, Mishra challenged that ruling before a revisional bench of the MP/MLA court, which, on July 21, 2025, overturned the ACJM’s decision and instructed that the matter be reheard, taking into account relevant Supreme Court precedents.
In response, Rahul Gandhi’s legal team—led by Senior Advocate Alok Ranjan Mishra—has lodged a criminal revision petition with the Allahabad High Court, arguing that the Varanasi court’s order is “wrong, illegal, and without jurisdiction.” They have also sought an interim stay on the order during the pendency of the High Court proceedings