An MP-MLA court in Uttar Pradesh has summoned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to appear before it on July 2 in connection with a defamation case concerning his remarks about Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Originally scheduled for a hearing on June 18, the case was postponed to June 26 due to the judge’s leave. On Wednesday, the court ordered Gandhi to personally appear for proceedings on July 2.
The complaint, filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijay Mishra on August 4, 2018, cites Gandhi’s alleged objectionable comments during a press conference in Bengaluru. Gandhi had criticized the BJP for claiming to uphold honest and clean politics while having a party president who was "accused" in a murder case. At the time of Gandhi’s comments, Amit Shah was the BJP president. In 2014, a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Mumbai had discharged Shah from a 2005 fake encounter case when he was the minister of state for home in Gujarat.
During the last court session, the petitioner’s advocate, Santosh Kumar Pandey, noted that an individual named Ram Pratap had requested to be made a party to the case. However, Pandey opposed the plea, arguing that Pratap was neither a victim nor relevant to the matter. Gandhi’s lawyer, Kashi Prasad Shukla, also opposed the petition. The court subsequently dismissed Pratap’s request and mandated Gandhi’s personal appearance at the next hearing. The case has been contentious since its inception. On February 20 this year, Gandhi paused his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ in Amethi to appear in court, where he was granted bail. The upcoming hearing on July 2 is expected to shed more light on the legal battle surrounding Gandhi's remarks and the subsequent defamation charges.
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