Rahul Gandhi gets bail in 2018 defamation case over alleged remarks against Amit Shah

The defamation case pertains to Rahul Gandhi's alleged "objectionable" comments against Amit Shah a press conference in Bengaluru.

Rahul Gandhi's lawyer claimed he was innocent and he had not made any such statements (PTI/File Photo)

A district court in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, Tuesday granted bail to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a 2018 defamation case over his alleged remarks against Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Chief Defence Counsel, Sultanpur, Tarkeshwar Singh said, “Rahul Gandhi had appeared before the court in response to a summons issued in a defamation case. An application seeking bail was moved earlier and subsequently granted by the court. Two sureties of Rs 25,000 each were submitted before the court.”

When contacted, Gandhi’s lawyer Kashi Prasad Shukla said a personal bond of Rs 25,000 was also filed by his client as per court directive.

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Advocate Santosh Pandey, meanwhile, told reporters, “Rahul Gandhi’s advocate claimed that he was innocent and he has not said anything (defamatory). We objected to that. His offence — under section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (Punishment for defamation) — is bailable, so he was granted bail.”

A case was filed against the Congress leader by BJP’s Vijay Mishra on August 4, 2018. He referred to “objectionable” comments made by Gandhi during a press conference in Bengaluru, alleging the BJP’s involvement in a murder case during the tenure of then-party president Shah.

Shah was discharged by a special CBI court in Mumbai in connection with a 2005 fake encounter case four years prior to Gandhi’s statement. At the time, Shah was the Minister of State for Home in Gujarat.

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