Sultanpur: The Special MP/MLA court in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, on Monday dismissed a 2018 criminal defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

The legal proceedings originated from statements made by Gandhi in 2018 during a press conference in Bengaluru, Karnataka, where he allegedly uttered "objectionable remarks" concerning Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Gandhi travelled from Delhi to attend the Sultanpur court session in person for the formal announcement of the verdict.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha had previously been summoned by the MP/MLA court on December 16, 2023, following a complaint lodged by Vijay Mishra, who served as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) district vice-president at the time of the incident.

Speaking to reporters earlier on Monday, complainant Vijay Mishra expressed confidence that the court would rule against the Congress leader.

"We are hopeful that we will receive justice, given the way they behaved toward our BJP’s national president at that time (Amit Shah). This legal case has been ongoing since 2018, spanning all the way to 2026. Today is the date for the verdict, and given how the case has been contested by our legal counsel, we are optimistic that the judgment will be in our favour," Mishra stated.

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Detailing the history of the complaint, Mishra’s legal counsel, advocate Kashi Prasad Shukla, explained the origin of the litigation.

"This matter dates back to May 2018, when, during a press conference in Bengaluru, Rahul Gandhi made objectionable remarks about the then-national president of the BJP, Amit Shah. He referred to him as an accused in a murder case. Aggrieved by this, Vijay Mishra—the then-chairman of the local District Co-operative Bank, who also served as a BJP vice-president for the district—filed a formal complaint," Shukla noted.

Prior to the verdict, legal counsel had outlined that a conviction under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) carried a potential sentence of up to two years' imprisonment along with a financial penalty.

Under Section 437A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), a defendant would have been required to submit bail bonds and sureties to guarantee court appearances had an appeal been lodged in a higher judicial forum.

ANI