NEW DELHI: An MP-MLA court in Sultanpur (Uttar Pradesh) on Friday deferred the hearing in the 2018 defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his alleged objectionable remarks targeting BJP leader Amit Shah.
The hearing scheduled for Friday was deferred to June 18 due to the demise of a lawyer, prompting a condolence meeting in the court. Gandhi’s lawyer Kashi Prasad Shukla, cited this reason for the postponement. Earlier, Gandhi had appeared in court for the same case in February and had been granted bail. The complaint was lodged against Gandhi by BJP leader Vijay Mishra.
In December 2023, a warrant was issued against Gandhi by the court. Consequently, the Congress leader suspended his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Amethi on February 20, attended the court session, and was granted bail.
The complaint, filed on August 4, 2018, accused Gandhi of making objectionable comments against Shah during a press conference in Bengaluru in May of the same year, amid the Karnataka elections.
In his remarks, Gandhi asserted that although the BJP professes commitment to honest and clean politics, it has a party president who stands “accused” in a murder case. Shah held the position of BJP president when Gandhi made this statement.
Approximately four years prior to Gandhi’s comments, a special CBI court in Mumbai cleared Shah of involvement in a 2005 fake encounter case during his tenure as a minister of state for home in Gujarat.