A defamation case has been filed against a Bangladeshi journalist and a female employee of 'The Jaipur Dialogues,' a Jaipur-based organisation, for allegedly spreading false information about Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and his mother, Sonia Gandhi.

The case was registered at the High Grounds police station following a complaint by G Srinivas, the legal unit coordinator of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC). The complaint was filed against Bangladeshi journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Chaudhary, editor of BLiTZ, and Aditi Ghosh, who is affiliated with 'The Jaipur Dialogues'.

In his post, Chaudhary had referred Sonia Gandhi by her maiden name and her son.

The complaint alleges that on August 23, Chaudhary posted on his social media account on 'X' claiming that Sonia Gandhi is a Christian despite marrying in India and portrayed her as an agent of Pakistan's intelligence agency, ISI. He also accused Rahul Gandhi of meeting a Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader in London and sexually assaulting a woman.

Srinivas stated that the fake news was deliberately circulated to tarnish the reputations of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, particularly in the lead-up to the Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections.

“We registered a case against Chaudhary and Aditi Ghosh under BNS sections 196 (Promoting enmity between different groups) and 353 (2) (publishing or circulating false information to create hatred ) on Saturday,” a police officer said, adding that further investigations into the matter are ongoing.

Image source: ANI