Sultanpur Court to Hear Defamation Case against Rahul Gandhi on Apr 12

The hearing in a 2018 defamation case against Rahul Gandhi, concerning his alleged objectionable remarks against Home Minister Amit Shah, has been postponed to April 12, 2024.

The hearing could not proceed on Tuesday as the judge was on leave.

The defamation complaint against Rahul Gandhi was filed by BJP leader Vijay Mishra six years ago.

Plaintiff’s advocate Santosh Pandey stated that he submitted an application to the court seeking the issuance of a non-bailable warrant against Gandhi. However, due to the absence of the judge, the hearing could not take place.

The lawyer for the Congress leader, Kashi Prasad Shukla, stated that he also submitted an application in court seeking another date for the hearing. He cited Gandhi’s schedule as a candidate in Kerala’s Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, where the last date of filing nomination is April 4. Last December, the court issued a warrant against Rahul Gandhi. Subsequently, Gandhi halted his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Amethi on February 20, appeared in court, and was granted bail.

The complaint against Rahul Gandhi was filed on August 4, 2018, for his alleged objectionable comments against Shah. These comments were made at a press conference in Bengaluru in May of that year, during the Karnataka elections. The complainant referred to the Congress Leader’s comment that the BJP claims to believe in honest and clean politics but has a party president who is an “accused” in a murder case.

Shah was BJP president when Gandhi made the comment. About four years before Gandhi’s remark, a special CBI court in Mumbai discharged Shah in a 2005 fake encounter case when he was a minister of state for home in Gujarat.