Sultanpur Court Acquits Rahul Gandhi in Criminal Defamation Case Over Amit Shah

Sultanpur: The Special MP/MLA Court at Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, has acquitted Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case filed in 2018 over his alleged remark describing Union Home Minister Amit Shah as a “murder accused”. 

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Shubham Verma held that the statements did not constitute defamation under law. Gandhi was personally present in court when the verdict was pronounced.

The complaint, was filed on 04.08.2018 by Vijay Mishra, a local BJP leader and former chairman of the Sultanpur District Cooperative Bank, under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code, alleging that the remarks harmed the reputation of the party and its then national president, Amit Shah.

The remarks were made at a press interaction in Bengaluru in May 2018, during the Karnataka Assembly election campaign. Gandhi had questioned the ruling party’s claims of clean governance and allegedly referred to Shah as a “murder accused”. The remark alluded to the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, from which Shah had been discharged by a special CBI court in Mumbai in December 2014.

The Sultanpur court issued summons to Gandhi in November 2023. He surrendered before the magistrate in February 2024 and was granted bail. Three witnesses were examined during the trial. The trial court also rejected the complainant’s plea to match Gandhi’s voice sample with the recording of the rally, which was later upheld by the Allahabad High Court.

In defence, Gandhi maintained that his statements had been taken out of context in the course of political debate, his counsel argued that no offence of defamation was made out. 

After examining the evidence and hearing both sides, the magistrate concluded that the statements failed to satisfy the essential requirements of criminal defamation, dismissed the complaint and acquitted Gandhi. 

Appearances:

For the Complainant: Advocate Santosh Kumar Pandey.

For the Accused: Senior Advocate R.S. Cheema, with Advocates Kashi Prasad Shukla, Tarannum Cheema, Prasanna S., Kanishka Singh, Akash Singh, Sivam Thripati and Aman Khan.

Case Title: Vijay Mishra vs. Rahul Gandhi