Defamation case against Rahul: Hearing in UP court postponed due to lawyer's death

Sultanpur (UP), Nov 6 (PTI) The hearing in a defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the local MP-MLA court here was postponed due to the death of a lawyer and the next proceedings would be held on November 17, his counsel said on Thursday.

BJP member Vijay Mishra had filed the defamation case on August 4, 2018 alleging that on May 8, 2018, during a press conference in Bengaluru during the Karnataka assembly elections, Gandhi called the then BJP national president and current Union Home Minister Amit Shah an "accused" of murder.

However, nearly four years before Gandhi's comment, a special CBI court in Mumbai had acquitted Shah in a 2005 fake encounter case.

Following Gandhi's failure to appear during the five-year court proceedings, the court issued a warrant against him in December 2023.

Subsequently, in February 2024, Gandhi surrendered to the court. The special judge granted him bail on two sureties of Rs 25,000 each.

On July 26, 2024, Gandhi filed his statement in court, in which he declared himself innocent and called the case a political conspiracy.

The court then directed the plaintiff to present evidence. Witnesses have been presented continuously since then. So far, only one witness has been cross-examined.

Gandhi's lawyer, Kashi Prasad Shukla, said that due to the death of a lawyer, no proceedings could be conducted in the court on Thursday. The next hearing will now be held on November 17. PTI COR CDN ZMN