NEW DELHI: The Allahabad high court on Wednesday declined to interfere with a Varanasi court order rejecting a plea seeking registration of an FIR against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on India’s Sikh community during a visit to the US in 2024.Justice Vikram D Chauhan dismissed the application filed by the petitioner, Nageshwar Mishra, observing that the allegation against Rahul Gandhi was based solely on newspaper reports about his statements during his US visits, which did not specify the date, time or place of the remarks.“In such a situation, no order directing registration of a case against a person can be passed,” PTI quoted Justice Chauhan as saying.Mishra approached the high court after the Varanasi Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court rejected his application seeking registration of an FIR against the Congress MP on October 17, 2025. On July 9, a sessions court also dismissed Mishra’s petition following which he challenged both orders in the high court.
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The controversy erupted after Rahul Gandhi said in Washington DC on September 10, 2024: “The fight is about whether a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear his turban or a kada in India. Or he, as a Sikh, is going to be able to go to Gurdwara. That’s what the fight is about, and not just for him, but for all religions.”Amid criticism of his remarks by the BJP, Rahul Gandhi hit back at the ruling party, accusing it of “resorting to lies” over his remarks and claiming that it was “unable to accept the truth.”Also Read | ‘Rahul Gandhi brazenly defending, justifying his remarks in US’: BJP“The BJP has been spreading lies about my remarks in America. I want to ask every Sikh brother and sister in India and abroad – is there anything wrong in what I have said? Shouldn’t India be a country where every Sikh – and every Indian – can freely practice their religion without fear?” the Lok Sabha leader of the opposition posted on X.“As usual, the BJP is resorting to lies. They are desperate to silence me because they cannot stand the truth. But I will always speak up for the values that define India: our unity in diversity, equality, and love,” he added.
