An MP-MLA Court in Sultanpur (Uttar Pradesh) on Monday deferred the hearing in a 2018 defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi concerning his alleged objectionable remark targeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Reason
The hearing, originally slated for Monday, was postponed as a judge had not yet been assigned to the court, as informed by Gandhi’s counsel Kashi Prasad Shukla. Consequently, the court has rescheduled the case to be heard on May 2, 2024.
Who Filed the Complaint?
The defamation complaint against Gandhi was filed by BJP leader Vijay Mishra six years ago.
In December 2023, a warrant was issued against Rahul Gandhi by the court. Consequently, Gandhi paused his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Amethi on February 20, appeared in court, and was granted bail.
Allegations
The complaint was lodged on August 4, 2018, against Rahul Gandhi for his purported objectionable remarks against Shah, made during a press conference in Bengaluru in May of the same year, amidst the Karnataka elections.
The complainant cited Gandhi’s statement that the BJP professes to advocate for honest and clean politics, yet has a party president who is an “accused” in a murder case. At the time of Gandhi’s comment, Shah held the position of BJP president.
Approximately four years before Gandhi’s statement, a special CBI court in Mumbai acquitted Shah in a 2005 fake encounter case, during his tenure as the minister of state for home in Gujarat.
