Rahul Gandhi, a Congress leader, was granted bail on Tuesday by a local court in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, in a defamation case brought against him by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader. The case stemmed from remarks purportedly made by Gandhi in 2018 against Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Vijay Mishra, a BJP leader, is said to have initiated the case in response to remarks made by Gandhi during election campaigns for the Karnataka legislative assembly elections. These remarks allegedly included a statement referring to Amit Shah, then the BJP president, as a “murder accused.”
Gandhi’s statement reportedly highlighted the contradiction between the BJP’s assertion of clean politics and the leadership role of someone facing accusations in a murder case, in reference to Shah’s position as the BJP president at the time.
Gandhi was alluding to the Sohrabuddin encounter case, wherein Amit Shah was acquitted by a Special CBI court in 2014.
Mishra allegedly voiced concern that these “objectionable comments” had negatively impacted the Home Minister’s reputation.
Reports indicate that Gandhi presented himself before the trial court this morning in relation to the case and asserted his innocence.
Subsequently, the trial court granted him bail.
