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World

Rahul Gandhi acquitted in 2018 Sultanpur defamation case over Amit Shah remarks

A special MP/MLA court in Sultanpur on Monday acquitted Rahul Gandhi in a 2018 criminal defamation case over his remarks about Amit Shah, ending proceedings that began with a complaint filed in August 2018.

By James Calloway · · 2 min read

Rahul Gandhi walking with police and security personnel outside a court
Photo: India TV News

A special MP/MLA court in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, on Monday acquitted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a 2018 criminal defamation case over his remarks about Amit Shah, then the BJP president.

Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Raebareli MP, was present in court when Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Shubham Verma pronounced the verdict, according to LiveLaw. NDTV reported that the court pronounced Gandhi “not guilty”, stating that his remarks were not defamatory.

The case concerned alleged remarks Gandhi made about Shah at a press conference in Bengaluru in May 2018, during campaigning for the Karnataka Assembly elections. LiveLaw reported that Gandhi had allegedly called Shah, then the BJP national president, a “murder accused”. The Times of India, quoting counsel in the case, reported that Gandhi referred to Shah as an accused in a murder case.

Local BJP leader Vijay Mishra, a former chairman of the Sultanpur district cooperative bank, filed the defamation complaint on 4 August 2018, according to The Times of India and The Indian Express. Gandhi denied the allegations, calling the complaint politically motivated, The Indian Express reported. His counsel, Kashi Prasad Shukla, had described the case as baseless and sought its dismissal. LiveLaw reported that Gandhi’s stance during the proceedings was that the remarks had been presented out of context.

Gandhi had travelled to Sultanpur on Monday for the verdict, hours after vehicles in his convoy collided on the Purvanchal Expressway; he was safe after the collision, as Flip News reported earlier on Monday.

Sources

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