Rahul Gandhi acquitted by UP court in 2018 defamation case over remarks against Amit Shah
The case was filed by local BJP leader Vijay Mishra over remarks Gandhi made against Amit Shah during the Karnataka elections
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was acquitted by a special MP-MLA court in Sultanpur on Monday in a defamation case filed over his 2018 remarks against Amit Shah. The complaint was originally lodged by local BJP leader Vijay Mishra following comments made during a rally in Bengaluru ahead of the Karnataka Assembly elections. Gandhi appeared in court for the verdict, leading to celebrations and distribution of sweets among Congress supporters gathered outside the complex.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was acquitted by a special MP-MLA court in Sultanpur on Monday in a defamation case filed over his 2018 remarks against Amit Shah. The complaint was originally lodged by local BJP leader Vijay Mishra following comments made during a rally in Bengaluru ahead of the Karnataka Assembly elections. Gandhi appeared in court for the verdict, leading to celebrations and distribution of sweets among Congress supporters gathered outside the complex.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was acquitted by a special MP-MLA court in Sultanpur on Monday in a defamation case filed over his 2018 remarks against Amit Shah. The complaint was originally lodged by local BJP leader Vijay Mishra following comments made during a rally in Bengaluru ahead of the Karnataka Assembly elections. Gandhi appeared in court for the verdict, leading to celebrations and distribution of sweets among Congress supporters gathered outside the complex.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was acquitted by a special MP-MLA court here on Monday in a defamation case over his remarks against Amit Shah. The remarks were made back in 2018 when Amit Shah was BJP president.
Gandhi appeared before the court for the pronouncement of the verdict.
Plaintiff Vijay Mishra's lawyer Santosh Pandey said Gandhi has been acquitted by the court.
The case was filed by BJP leader Vijay Mishra, a resident of Hanumanganj under the Kotwali Dehat police station limits in Sultanpur.
Congress workers, who gathered outside the court complex, celebrated the verdict and distributed sweets among themselves.
The case relates to the remarks made by Gandhi against Shah at a rally in Bengaluru ahead of the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections.
Mishra, a local BJP leader and former chairman of the District Cooperative Bank in Sultanpur, filed the defamation complaint against Gandhi on August 4, 2018.
In final arguments before the court, defense counsel acknowledged Gandhi's statements but insisted they were made in good faith with no malicious intent. The defense further argued that the remarks were taken out of context and misrepresented.
Meanwhile, counsel for the complainant urged the court to convict the Congress leader, arguing that his admission that he made the comments served as sufficient basis for a guilty verdict.
Gandhi appeared before the court in 2023 and secured bail. The court had earlier fixed October 13 for pronouncing its verdict, which was subsequently rescheduled for October 26.
What was the remarks made against Shah?
While referring to Shah in 2018, Gandhi said, "People in India forget that the president of BJP is a murder accused. That's the truth. The party that talks about honesty, decency, has a person who has been accused of murder as president."
He was referring to the he 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, in which Amit Shah had previously been named an accused.
A special CBI court had fully discharged Amit Shah in December 2014, clearing him of all charges due to a lack of evidence well before Gandhi made these statements in 2018.