‘Complainant Did Not Qualify As An Aggrieved Person’
LoP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi greets supporters upon his arrival at Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport, in Lucknow, Monday
Lucknow: An MP/MLA court in Sultanpur acquitted Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Monday in a defamation case over his alleged derogatory remarks against Union home minister Amit Shah in 2018.Special magistrate Shubham Verma acquitted Rahul citing lack of evidence.Rahul, the leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha, arrived in Lucknow on Monday morning and travelled by road to Sultanpur for the hearing.The case was filed in 2018 by Vijay Mishra, a BJP member and former chairman of the District Cooperative Bank in Sultanpur, alleging that the Congress MP made derogatory remarks against Shah, who was then the BJP president, at a political rally in Bengaluru during Karnataka Assembly elections.Rahul had appeared before the court in 2023 and secured bail. The court had earlier fixed Oct 13 for pronouncing its verdict, which was later rescheduled for Oct 26.Congress workers celebrated the verdict outside the court complex with beating of drums and distributing sweets among themselves and chanting “Satyamev Jayate” as Rahul emerged from the premises after his acquittal.His counsel Kashi Prasad Shukla told reporters: “The court determined that the complainant, Vijay Mishra, did not qualify as an aggrieved person.” and added that “As for the specific reasoning or the grounds upon which the case was dismissed, we cannot provide full details until we have the complete judgment.”Mishra’s counsel Santosh Pandey said the court had accepted the CD he had submitted as evidence. He added that he intended to challenge the matter.“The court held that the statement was not defamatory and that my client, Vijay Mishra ji, is not the aggrieved person. So, I respect the court’s order. I will take copy of it scrutinise it and file it in the appellate court after consulting my client,” Pandey told reporters.Mishra said, “Rahul Gandhi has been acquitted in light of insufficient evidence. We will study the order and then proceed for appeal in court according to the counsel we get.”A lawyer from Congress’s legal team said, “We were convinced that the case was filed less on merit and more due to extraneous considerations. That is why we were convinced the case would be decided in our favour.”Security arrangements were strengthened in Sultanpur, particularly around the court complex, in view of the proceedings.
