A Pathankot court on Friday dismissed a complaint filed against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and 98 other Lok Sabha members of the Congress, including AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, observing that “failure to fulfil election promises did not constitute a criminal breach of trust”.
Rahul Gandhi and the other MPs were represented by advocate Vikrant Mahajan.
The court of Ravneet Kaur Bedi, Judicial Magistrate (First class), observed that “election manifesto promises and political commitments, by themselves, do not constitute offences of cheating under criminal law”.
The complaint had been filed by advocate Tarsem Lal on November 19, 2024 keeping in view the promises made by the Congress during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The complainant had claimed that the Congress leaders had deceived voters by making promises that were later not fulfilled. He said the Congress had falsely promised financial assistance of Rs 8,500 per month to poor women.
Gandhi’s counsel Vikrant Mahajan relied on decisions of the Supreme Court and high courts while arguing the case.
The court said, “Non-implementation of such promises may have political consequences, but it cannot, in the absence of statutory ingredients, attract criminal prosecution.”
The court also described the proceedings “as an abuse of the judicial process and further observed that the continuation of such proceedings would unnecessarily consume valuable judicial time.”
