India, Aug. 14 -- The Supreme Court on Friday quashed the criminal defamation complaint and the magistrate's summoning order against the leader of the opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in a case linked to his remarks about Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

A bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Sheel Nagu set aside the proceedings, observing that the Uttar Pradesh government had not granted the sanction required to prosecute Gandhi.

Gandhi had challenged a trial court's order summoning him to face charges under Sections 153-A (promotion of enmity between groups) and 505 of the Indian Penal Code. He moved the Supreme Court after the Allahabad high court declined to stop the proceedings.

Gan...