In Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, an MP-MLA court has summoned Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, to appear personally in court on July 2. This summons is related to a defamation case filed against him for allegedly making objectionable remarks about Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
During the last court session, advocate Santosh Kumar Pandey, representing the petitioner, noted that an individual named Ram Pratap had requested to be made a party to the case. However, Pandey opposed the plea, arguing that Pratap was neither a victim nor had any relevance to the matter. Rahul Gandhi’s lawyer, Kashi Prasad Shukla, also opposed the petition. The court subsequently dismissed Pratap’s request and mandated Gandhi’s personal appearance at the next hearing.
The defamation complaint was filed against Rahul Gandhi on August 4, 2018. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijay Mishra lodged a complaint against Rahul Gandhi, citing alleged objectionable remarks made during a press conference in Bengaluru. Rahul Gandhi had criticised the BJP for advocating clean politics while having a party president who was implicated in a murder case. During Rahul Gandhi’s comments, Amit Shah was serving as the BJP president.
Rahul Gandhi, recently appointed the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, appeared before the court on February 20 this year, halting his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Amethi. The court had granted him bail at the time.
The defamation case hearing was originally set for June 18, but it was rescheduled to June 26 due to the judge’s absence. On June 26, the court instructed the Congress leader to attend the proceedings in person on July 2.
Rahul Gandhi also has another defamation case pending, for which a Bengaluru court granted him bail. The BJP had accused Congress leaders of spreading false ads targeting its party leaders, including then chief minister Basavaraj Bommai.
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