The hearing of a defamation case filed against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the district over his alleged statement linking the RSS with Mahatma Gandhi's assassination was deferred to August 3, his lawyer said here.

The hearing was scheduled for Saturday but the magistrate at the Bhiwandi court was on leave, said Gandhi's lawyer advocate Narayan Iyer.

The criminal defamation case was filed by local Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) member Rajesh Kunte over the Congress leader’s alleged statement at an election rally near Bhiwandi on March 6, 2014, that “the RSS people killed (Mahatma) Gandhi.” He defamed the RSS by making this false claim, the complainant said.

In a related development, the Bombay High Court two days ago reserved its order on a petition filed by Rahul Gandhi against the admission of certain evidence by the Bhiwandi court, his lawyer said.

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