Hearing in defamation case against Rahul Gandhi adjourned as witness fails to appear

Sultanpur (UP), Oct 6 (PTI) The hearing in the defamation case against Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was adjourned on Monday after a witness failed to appear in the MP/MLA court here.

The next hearing has been fixed for October 17, case lawyers said.

Rahul Gandhi's counsel, Kashi Prasad Shukla, said the testimony of a witness, Ram Chandra Dubey, was scheduled for Monday. However, the court postponed the proceedings to October 17 as he did not appear.

Advocate Santosh Kumar Pandey, representing the complainant, also confirmed that the court has fixed October 17 as the next date of hearing. The previous hearing in the case took place on September 23.

The case was filed in 2018 by a local BJP politician Vijay Mishra, a resident of Hanumanganj in the Kotwali Dehat area, who alleged that Rahul Gandhi made objectionable remarks during the Karnataka assembly election campaign that year, causing him distress.

After Gandhi failed to appear in the court for several years, a warrant was issued in December 2023. He later surrendered before the court in February 2024, following which the special magistrate granted him bail on two sureties of Rs 25,000 each.

Gandhi, the Rae Bareli MP, recorded his statement before the court on July 26 this year, asserting his innocence and terming the case a "political conspiracy". Subsequently, the court directed the complainant to produce witnesses.

On April 28, the complainant's counsel presented Anil Mishra, a resident of Pitambarpur Kala, as a witness, who was later cross-examined by Gandhi's lawyer, Shukla. PTI COR KIS KSS KSS