‘False allegations due to political malice,’ Rahul Gandhi tells UP court in defamation case; next hearing on August 12

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi recorded his statement in the MP-MLA court in Uttar Pradesh's Sultanpur on July 26 in a defamation case, news agency ANI reported. Gandhi, the leader of opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, said during the hearing that the allegations were false and filed due to political malice. 

The matter will be taken up again on August 12.

Filed by local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijay Mishra on August 4, 2018, the defamation case accuses Rahul Gandhi of making objectionable remarks about Amit Shah, the then BJP president and current home minister.

Rahul Gandhi was granted bail by the court in the case on February 20. Special Magistrate Shubham Verma had summoned Gandhi to record his statement on July 26.

"Rahul Gandhi recorded his statement in the court and said that all the allegations are false and the complaint has been filed due to political malice...12th August has been fixed as the next date of hearing and the complainant will have to produce evidence on that day which will be cross-examined by the court," advocate Kashi Prasad Shukla, appearing for Rahul Gandhi, said.

Rahul Gandhi has to appear again

Court sources said Gandhi need not appear in the court again on August 12. Congress district president Abhishek Singh Rana confirmed that Gandhi appeared in the court.

Mishra, the petitioner, had accused Gandhi of making derogatory statements during a press conference in Bengaluru. Gandhi had criticised the BJP, asserting that the party claims to uphold honest and clean politics while having a party president who is under suspicion in a murder case, referring to Amit Shah, who was the BJP chief at that time.

A Bengaluru special court granted Gandhi bail in June this year in a different defamation case filed by the Karnataka BJP unit against him. The case involved defamatory advertisements published in mainstream newspapers. 

The complaint said that the Congress's advertisements published in local newspapers ahead of the 2023 Karnataka assembly elections tarnished the saffron party's reputation. The Congress eventually won the Karnataka assembly elections.