India's opposition leader Rahul Gandhi pleaded not guilty on Tuesday (12) to defaming a powerful Hindu supremacist group closely linked to the ruling party of prime minister Narendra Modi.
Gandhi will fight charges in court that he defamed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) organisation when he accused the Hindu movement of assassinating Indian independence icon Mahatma Gandhi.
A member of the RSS -- a Hindu umbrella group which is the ideological inspiration for Modi's rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party -- sued Gandhi for the remarks made in 2014.
Gandhi is unrelated to freedom legend Mahatma Gandhi but both hail from Congress, India's oldest political party.
Gandhi, who will square off against Modi in a general election within a year, vowed to battle not only the charges but the Hindu nationalist movement behind the defamation case.
"My battle is ideological, and I will fight and win," Gandhi told reporters outside the courtroom in Maharashtra state, the heartland of the RSS.
If found guilty Gandhi could face up to two years in prison, but a verdict is not likely in India's creaking court system for many years.
Gandhi had tried to have the case thrown out in the Supreme Court in 2016 before agreeing to stand and defend himself against allegations he smeared the RSS.
A former member of the organisation, Nathuram Godse, shot dead Mahatma Gandhi in 1948 just months after India gained independence from British rule.
The Hindu radical was tried in a court and hanged in 1949.
But the RSS -- which was briefly banned after Gandhi's assassination -- has always distanced itself from the killing.
Founded in 1925, the RSS today boasts six million active members. Most of the BJP's leaders, including Modi, have a long history as members of the volunteer movement.
The group threw its weight behind Modi ahead of his crushing 2014 election victory over Congress.
Ahead of his court appearance Gandhi, the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, said India "has become a slave" to three men -- Modi, his right-hand man and party chief Amit Shah and RSS boss Mohan Bhagwat.
Dharavi slum in Mumbai
During the hearing, Clifford denied all the charges except for the rape charge, which was added to the indictment at the session. (Photo: Hertfordshire Police /Handout via REUTERS)
Man pleads not guilty to murder of BBC presenter's family
A 26-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering the wife and two daughters of BBC sports commentator John Hunt in a crossbow and knife attack.
Kyle Clifford, who also faces charges of rape, appeared via video link at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday.
Clifford, arrested in July after a manhunt, is charged with three counts of murder, one count each of rape and false imprisonment, and two counts of possessing offensive weapons – a 10-inch knife and a crossbow.
During the hearing, Clifford denied all the charges except for the rape charge, which was added to the indictment at the session.
He is expected to enter a plea for that charge at a later date.
The victims were Carol Hunt, 61, wife of horseracing commentator John Hunt, and their daughters Louise, 25, and Hannah, 28.
An earlier hearing revealed that Louise had been found tied up and that both she and her sister had been shot with a crossbow, while their mother had been stabbed with a knife.
The fatal attack occurred at the family’s home in Bushey, a commuter town near Watford, northwest of London.
(With inputs from AFP)