Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi was granted relief by a local court on Thursday in a criminal defamation case filed against him by an RSS functionary.

Gandhi appeared as accused before the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate Kamrup and was granted Personal Recognisance (PR) bond as he appeared personally and in deference to his status as a Member of Parliament, his lawyer Anshuman Bora told reporters outside the high security Court.

“We had made a bail application for him but as Rahul Gandhi appeared in person the court allowed him to go on PR bond. The next date of hearing has been fixed for November 5”, Bora said.