Daijiworld Media Network – Sultanpur

Sultanpur, Oct 26: A special MP/MLA court in Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur district on Monday, October 26, acquitted Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi in a 2018 criminal defamation case over his remarks against then BJP president Amit Shah. The court held that Gandhi’s remarks were not defamatory in nature.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Shubham Verma pronounced the verdict in Gandhi’s presence. The complaint was filed by BJP leader Vijay Mishra on August 4, 2018, over remarks Gandhi made during the campaign for the Karnataka Assembly elections.

According to the complaint, Gandhi had referred to Shah as an accused in a murder case while criticising the BJP’s claims of honesty and decency. Gandhi had allegedly 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.”

The remarks were linked to the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, in which Shah was discharged by a special CBI court in 2014. Mishra maintained that Gandhi’s comments were defamatory and had harmed Shah’s reputation.

Gandhi disputed the allegations, arguing that his remarks had been presented out of context and were made in good faith. The court heard arguments from both sides before delivering its verdict on Monday. The decision brought relief to Gandhi in the case, which had been pending since 2018.

Senior advocate R S Cheema appeared for Gandhi along with advocates Kashi Prasad Shukla, Tarannum Cheema, Prasanna S, Kanishka Singh, Akash Singh, Sivam Thripati and Aman Khan.