A Maharashtra court today deferred till October 27 framing of charges against Rahul Gandhi in the defamation case filed against him by an RSS worker regarding his alleged statement about Mahatma Gandhi's assassination, a lawyer representing the Congress vice president said.
Magistrate Tushar Vaze was likely to frame charges today, but the matter was adjourned as Rahul Gandhi could not appear. The court in Thane accepted the Congress leader's plea for exemption from appearance, the lawyer said.
Framing of charges is a stage before the start of trial.
Advocate Narayan Iyer, Rahul Gandhi's lawyer, told the court that his client could not remain present today as a Parliament session is underway and he has to also attend a meeting in Chhattisgarh.
The court granted the Congress leader exemption today and adjourned the hearing to October 27, Iyer said.
The case against Rahul Gandhi was filed by a local RSS functionary, Rajesh Kunte, over the Congress leader's speech at Bhiwandi in Thane district on March 6, 2014 in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.
During the rally, Rahul allegedly said, "The RSS people had killed (Mahatma) Gandhi."
He had said he was ready to face trial after the Supreme Court refused to interfere in the criminal proceedings at Bhiwandi court.
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