Jharkhand High Court Wednesday extended the stay order on summons issued by a lower court against Congress president Rahul Gandhi till April 18 in connection with a petition filed against him for alleged objectionable remarks against the BJP.
During the course of the hearing, advocate Rajiv Ranjan, representing Gandhi, sought time from the bench of Justice A K Gupta, while the petitioner's counsel, Vinod Sahu, sought removal of the stay.
The court set April 18 as the next hearing date and allowed the continuation of the stay on the lower court's summons till that day.
The high court had earlier stayed the summons on January 21.
On December 12 last year, the court of sub-divisional magistrate Ajay Kumar Gudia had directed issuing of summons to Gandhi to appear before it following a petition filed by Naveen Jha, a member of the BJP's youth wing executive committee.
Jha alleged that Rahul Gandhi had made some objectionable remarks during the Congress national convention on March 18, 2018, which had spoiled the BJP's image and hurt his sentiments.