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Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has received a big blow over the Bombay High Court's alleged 'chowkidar chor hai' remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The High Court has refused to quash the criminal defamation case on this comment.

In this case, Rahul Gandhi had challenged the summons issued by the Magistrate Court in the High Court. It was argued on his behalf that the complaint was not maintainable. On his part, it was said that the alleged statement had not taken the name of any political party nor had it targeted any 'identifiable or definite class'.

Hearing the case, the single bench of Justice Nitin Borkar rejected Rahul Gandhi's argument and said that BJP is a registered national political party and hence it is definitely a recognizable entity.

The court said that the complainant claims that he has been an active member of BJP for two decades. Prima facie, the statement calling the Prime Minister, who is a member of the BJP, 'commander-in-thief' cannot be considered limited to the senior leadership of the party only. According to the court, what was the real intention of this statement and what effect it had on the party members, this question has to be considered during the trial.

Rahul Gandhi's lawyer Sudeep Pasbola argued in the High Court that Rahul Gandhi had not taken the name of BJP or any political party in the alleged tweet. He said no 'identifiable or defined group' had been targeted. In such a situation, there is no clearly aggrieved individual or group, hence the complainant does not have the right to pursue a criminal defamation case.

Rahul Gandhi's petition was also opposed by the Maharashtra government. On behalf of the Advocate General of Maharashtra, it was said that the court will have to see whether the necessary elements for the offense of defamation are present or not. It also has to be seen whether the comment was to any definite and identifiable group.