MUMBAI, Sept. 9 -- The Bombay High Court on Tuesday refused to quash a defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his alleged remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, including calling him "commander in-thief". The court dismissed Gandhi's plea challenging a 2019 Girgaon magistrate court order that had initiated proceedings against him. A single bench of Justice NR Borkar rejected Gandhi's argument that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was not an identifiable body and therefore the remarks could not form the basis of a defamation case involving its members. "Being a registered national political party, the BJP is definitely an identifiable body. On prima facie reading of the statement, describing the PM, who is a member of the BJP, as a "commander in thief", cannot be said to be limited only to the senior leadership of the party. Whether the imputation was in substance and what impact it will have on members of the party will have to be considered at the stage of trial," the judge said while upholding the magisterial court order. The case stems from a private complaint filed by BJP member Mahesh Shrishrimal in 2018. He alleged that Gandhi made defamatory remarks against PM Modi during a public rally in Rajasthan that year, including the statement, "Hindustan ka chowkidar chor hai". Shrishrimal also alleged that Gandhi, while commenting on a video posted on his X account on September 24, 2018, referred to Modi as "Commander in Thief". He claimed that the remarks amounted to allegations of theft against Modi as well as BJP members and other Indian citizens associated with him....