Sultanpur: The complainant in the defamation case related to Union Home Minister Amit Shah said he would challenge the Monday verdict of a special MP-MLA court in UP’s Sultanpur acquitting Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi.
After the court acquitted Gandhi in the case registered under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), complainant Vijay Mishra said he would challenge the decision before an appellate court after obtaining a certified copy of the order and seeking legal advice.
Santosh Pandey, counsel for the complainant, said the court did not consider Mishra an aggrieved person in the case and also did not find Gandhi’s remark to be defamatory.
Gandhi reached the special MP-MLA court in Sultanpur at around 11.10 a.m. on Monday. Security arrangements were tightened on the court premises ahead of the verdict, and the courtroom door was closed after Gandhi entered.
Earlier, Congress workers had gathered near Kurebhar on the Purvanchal Expressway to welcome him.
According to Pandey, the court considered three key aspects while delivering its verdict. He said the court accepted the CD submitted by the complainant as proven evidence but did not recognise Mishra as an aggrieved person in the matter. It also did not find Gandhi’s statement to be defamatory and acquitted him of the charges.
Pandey said the complainant’s side had not yet received a certified copy of the judgment. Once the order becomes available, it will be examined legally before a decision is taken on the next course of action.
Mishra also said he would study the judgment through his lawyer after obtaining a certified copy and subsequently approach an appellate court after consulting legal experts.
He added that he had been pursuing the case continuously since filing it in 2018.
The case relates to an alleged remark made by Gandhi during a press conference in Bengaluru in May 2018, during campaigning for the Karnataka Assembly elections. At the time, HM Shah was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President.
Mishra alleged that Gandhi had used the word “murderer” while referring to Shah during the press conference, thereby damaging the reputation of the BJP and its workers.
At the time, Mishra was a BJP district Vice-President and Chairman of the Sultanpur District Cooperative Bank. He filed a defamation complaint against Gandhi on August 4, 2018, citing a CD of the alleged statement as evidence.
The proceedings initially began before a civil court before the case was transferred to the special MP-MLA court, which deals with cases involving Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assemblies.
The court issued a summons to Gandhi on November 27, 2023. He appeared before it on February 20, 2024, and was granted bail against two personal bonds of Rs 25,000 each. Gandhi had denied the allegations at the time.
During the trial, the complainant’s side recorded the statements of Mishra, Anil Mishra, and Ramchand Dubey. Mishra also sought permission to obtain Gandhi’s voice sample and compare it with the recording on the CD. However, the trial court rejected the request.
(IANS)
