SULTANPUR, October 26 (Aalimi Nation) – A special MP-MLA court in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, on Monday acquitted Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi in a 2018 criminal defamation case over remarks about Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Gandhi was present in the courtroom when the verdict was delivered.
Early accounts of the order said the court held that his remarks were not defamatory in nature. The detailed order was still awaited, and the court's full reasoning had not been made public.
Defamation case: what the complaint alleged
The case was filed on August 4, 2018, by Vijay Mishra, a local BJP leader and former chairman of the District Cooperative Bank in Sultanpur. It relates to comments Gandhi made at a rally in Bengaluru during the run-up to the 2018 Karnataka Assembly election, when Shah was the president of the BJP.
The complainant said Gandhi was referring to Shah when he described the BJP as led by a "party president who is an accused in a murder case". The remarks were linked to the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, in which a special CBI court discharged Shah in 2014. Gandhi's side has said his remarks were presented out of context, while the complainant argued they were defamatory.
The verdict had first been listed for October 13 before the date was moved to October 26. Gandhi had earlier appeared before the court and was granted bail on personal bonds, and he travelled to Sultanpur earlier this year to record his statement.
Reaction from both sides
Gandhi's counsel, Kashi Prasad Shukla, said: "We respectfully accept the court's decision, and the truth has ultimately prevailed." Supporters of the Congress gathered outside the court with drums and slogans as the verdict became known.
Before the verdict, the complainant's counsel, Santosh Kumar Pandey, had said that if Gandhi were convicted, the court would hear arguments on sentencing. He noted that the maximum punishment was two years' imprisonment, and that a fine could be imposed alone or together with imprisonment. No reaction from Mishra or from the BJP to the acquittal was available at the time of writing.
Travel to Sultanpur
Gandhi travelled to Uttar Pradesh for the hearing. Congress leaders and workers received him at Lucknow airport, and heavy police and security arrangements were put in place for his visit. While the convoy was heading from Lucknow to Sultanpur on the Purvanchal Expressway, some of its vehicles were involved in a minor collision. Preliminary information indicated that the bonnet of one car was damaged. No injuries were reported, and Gandhi, who was in the convoy, was safe and continued to Sultanpur.
The Sultanpur case is separate from a 2019 defamation matter over remarks about the Modi surname, in which a Gujarat court convicted Gandhi in 2023 and sentenced him to two years in prison. That conviction led to his disqualification from the Lok Sabha, and the Supreme Court later stayed it.
What the court says in its written order about intent, and about the reference to the Sohrabuddin case, will become clear once the document is available. Whether the complainant seeks to challenge the acquittal is also not yet known.
