India, Oct. 13 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed criminal defamation proceedings against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his alleged 2018 remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, including calling him "commander-in-thief".

The order was passed by a bench of justices Vikram Nath and Aparesh Kumar Singh on a petition filed by Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, challenging the Bombay high court's September 8 order refusing to quash the proceedings.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for Gandhi, told the court that the petitioner was seeking a stay of the proceedings, as they are not maintainable.

The bench issued notice to the Maharashtra government and the complainant, a Bharatiya Janata P...