LUCKNOW: Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP from Rae Bareli Rahul Gandhi appeared in Sultanpur MP/MLA court on Friday and recorded his statement in connection with a criminal defamation case of 2018 lodged against him over his alleged remarks on Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
According to his lawyer, Rahul Gandhi denied all charges levelled against him saying that the case was filed out of political malice and that it lacked any solid basis.
Rahul remained on court premises for about 20 minutes and recorded his statement.
The Congress MP left for Delhi after the court proceedings and the matter was posted for next hearing on March 9.
It may be recalled that a case was registered against Rahul Gandhi for allegedly making a statement targetting Shah during Karnataka Assembly polls in 2018.
Significantly, the case is the consequence of the statement allegedly made by Rahul Gandhi at an election rally in Karnataka in 2018. An FIR was lodged against the Congress leader on the basis of a complaint was filed on August 4, 2018, by Vijay Mishra, a BJP leader in Sultanpur.
As per the complaint, Rahul Gandhi had claimed that while the BJP talked about clean and honest politics, it is led by a party president who is an accused in a murder case. At that time, Shah was holding the party reins.
The remarks made by Rahul Gandhi pertained to 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.
It is pertinent to mention that a special CBI court in Mumbai, in 2014, had discharged Shah in the case and at that time he was holding the post of Gujarat's home minister.
Responding to Rahul Gandhi's diatribe, the complainant claimed that it was defamatory and had hurt the reputation of Amit Shah. The case remained pending for five years with multiple adjournments. In December 2023, a non-bailable warrant was issued against Rahul for not appearing in court.
He, later, surrendered before the court on February 20, 2024. He was granted bail on two sureties of Rs 25,000 each.
In July 2024, Rahul Gandhi appeared in the court and he recorded his statement denying all the charges terming the case politically motivated.
The court, while hearing the case in January 2026, directed Gandhi to appear personally in the court for examination under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
After leaving the court, Rahul visited the shop of Ramchet Mochi and met his family. Ramchet Mochi had died of cancer three months ago. A year earlier, Rahul Gandhi had visited his shop and stitched shoes with him. He had later sent him a sewing machine as well.