Rahul granted bail in defamation case over remarks against Amit Shah

SULTANPUR: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was granted bail by a special court in Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur on Tuesday in connection with a defamation case related to his reference to Union Home Minister Amit Shah as a murder accused in 2018.

Gandhi secured bail on a surety of Rs 25,000 along with a personal bond of the same amount. Maintaining his innocence, Gandhi informed the court that he had not made any defamatory statements.

The case stemmed from a press conference held by Gandhi in Bengaluru during the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections, where he allegedly made remarks deemed objectionable about Shah. BJP leader Vijay Mishra filed a defamation complaint on August 4, 2018, accusing Gandhi of tarnishing Shah’s image.

Mishra specifically pointed to Gandhi’s statement suggesting that despite the BJP’s claims of adhering to clean politics, the party had a president who was accused in a murder case. At the time, Shah was serving as the BJP president.

However, it’s noteworthy that a special CBI court in Mumbai had cleared Shah in 2014 from a 2005 fake encounter case, in which he was accused during his tenure as the Gujarat Home Minister.

Gandhi’s absence from the previous court hearing on January 18, due to his ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, had drawn criticism from the BJP. Today’s bail follows his legal team’s submission of an application seeking exemption from personal appearance.