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

A Sultanpur court on Monday (October 26) acquitted Congress leader and Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi in a 2018 criminal defamation case filed by BJP leader Vijay Mishra over alleged remarks against Amit Shah.

According to the complaint, Rahul made objectionable remarks about Shah, the BJP’s then national president, at a rally in Bengaluru ahead of the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections.

Also read: ‘All are treated equally’, says SC as early hearing sought in defamation case against Rahul

Rahul appeared before the court and secured bail in 2023. He was acquitted after the court ruled that his remarks did not amount to defamation.

What Rahul said

The incident dates back to May 2018, when, at a press conference in Bengaluru, ahead of the Karnataka Assembly elections, Rahul reportedly referred to Shah as a “murder accused”.

According to Live Law, Rahul 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.”

Rahul’s reference was understood to be the allegation that Shah was involved in the extrajudicial killing of Sohrabuddin Sheik, a petty criminal, in 2005. However, Shah was discharged in the case in 2014 by a CBI court.

Out of context

Local BJP leader and former district cooperative bank chairman Vijay Mishra filed the criminal defamation complaint against Rahul on August 4, 2018.

The Congress leader maintained that his statements were presented out of context.

Additional Civil Judge and MP-MLA court magistrate Shubham Verma acquitted him on Monday, ruling that his remarks were not defamatory.

Also read: What Rahul Gandhi's SIR petition in SC asks, and why sceptics doubt it

In a separate case, Rahul had earlier secured interim relief from the Supreme Court over his 2019 remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The court had ordered a stay on proceedings in that matter.

Mishra may challenge decision in higher court

After the verdict, Mishra’s counsel said the court had accepted the CD he had submitted as evidence. He added that he intended to challenge the matter.

“The court held that the statement was not defamatory and that my client, Vijay Mishra ji, is not the aggrieved person. So, I respect the court’s order. I will take copy of it and study it and file it in appellate court after consulting my client,” Pandey told news agency PTI.

Mishra said, “Rahul Gandhi has been acquitted in light of insufficient evidence. We will take the order copy, study it and then proceed for appeal in court according to the counsel we get.”

A lawyer from Congress’s legal team, who was present in Sultanpur, told PTI: “We were convinced that the case was filed less on merit and more due to extraneous considerations. That is why we were convinced the case would be decided in our favour.”

Convoy accident

Rahul attended the court hearing in person on Monday, and when he was on the way to Sultanpur, some vehicles in his convoy reportedly collided on the Purvanchal Expressway.

Rahul was safe, and no major injuries were reported, and the incident has been described as minor.

Also read: SC stays defamation case trial against Rahul over remarks on PM Modi

The collision occurred around 10.15 am when a private vehicle at the front of the convoy, belonging to local Congress leaders, suddenly applied the brakes for an unspecified reason, causing vehicles behind it to collide, news agency PTI reported, citing unnamed sources.

Congress workers later celebrated the verdict outside the court complex with beating of drums and distributing sweets among themselves and chanting “Satyamev Jayate” (truth alone triumphs) as Rahul emerged from the premises after his acquittal.

(With agency inputs)