New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed further proceedings in a defamation case against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi over his remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Aparesh Kumar Singh issued notices to the Maharashtra government and the complainant, M H Shrishrimal, seeking their responses within four weeks.

The court’s order came on a plea filed by Gandhi challenging a September 8 Bombay High Court order that refused to quash the summons issued to him in the case.

“Issue notice returnable in four weeks. Further proceedings before the trial court shall remain stayed,” the bench ordered.

Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Gandhi, referred to earlier Supreme Court judgments and submitted that the law on the matter was settled. The bench scheduled the next hearing after four weeks.

On September 8, the Bombay High Court had dismissed Gandhi’s petition challenging a Girgaum magistrate’s August 28, 2019, order issuing summons in the defamation case. However, it continued its 2021 direction asking the magistrate to defer the hearing for six weeks to allow Gandhi to approach the Supreme Court.

The complaint was filed by Shrishrimal, who said he was aggrieved by Gandhi’s remarks against Modi because he was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

According to the complaint, Gandhi made the alleged defamatory remarks during a public speech in Rajasthan on September 20, 2018. It claimed that his statements amounted to allegations against BJP members and Indian citizens associated with the Prime Minister.