Defamation case: ‘MP/MLA court warns Rahul Gandhi against skipping hearing on July 26’
The Congress leader has skipped 12 consecutive hearings since February 20 when he surrendered in the court and was granted bail in the case
An MP-MLA court in Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur on Tuesday asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to personally appear before it on July 26 in a 2018 defamation case as it warned of stern action against the Rae Bareli MP for skipping 12 consecutive dates of hearing in the case, said lawyers and prosecution officials.
The suit was filed against the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha by BJP leader Vijay Mishra for alleged objectionable remarks against Union home minister Amit Shah who was the national BJP president at that time. They said the court fixed July 26 as the next date of hearing after assurance by Rahul’s lawyer Kashi Prasad Shukla that he will not skip the date this time.
Rahul Gandhi was summoned in person in a case related to defamatory remarks against Union home minister Amit Shah in a press conference at Bengaluru during the Karnataka assembly polls on May 8, 2018, government counsel Santosh Pandey said to reporters.
He further said Rahul Gandhi had skipped as many as 12 summons to appear before the court to record his statement after appearing before the court last on February 20. He said Rahul Gandhi then appeared before the court in between his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra’ after which he was granted bail.
The case was registered under Indian Penal Code sections 499 (for spreading rumours to malign a person’s image) and 500 (for defamation), the prosecution official said. Pandey said local BJP leader and district co-operative chairman Vijay Mishra had filed the defamation case against Rahul Gandhi in the Sultanpur MP/MLA court after watching his press conference on a news channel.
Another prosecution official said Rahul Gandhi had called Amit Shah a murder accused. Rahul Gandhi’s lawyer Kashi Prasad Shukla informed the court that the Congress leader could not appear before the court on Tuesday due to his engagements in the Lok Sabha proceedings as the Leader of Opposition.