THANE: A court here on Friday imposed a cost of Rs 500 on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for the delay in filing a written statement in a case of civil defamation filed against him by an RSS activist for linking the Sangh with the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh.

There was a delay of 881 days on Gandhi's part in filing the written statement, and his lawyer Narayan Iyer had filed an application seeking condonation of the delay.

His client lives in Delhi, and being an MP, travels extensively which led to the delay, advocate Iyer argued.

The magistrate's court condoned the delay and accepted the written statement, but also imposed a cost of Rs 500, Iyer told PTI.

The defamation case has been filed by RSS activist Vivek Champanerkar, seeking damages of Rs one from the Congress leader.

The next hearing is scheduled for February 15.