Rahul Gandhi, the Raebareli MP and the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, was the target of a defamation lawsuit heard by a special court on Tuesday. Santosh Kumar Pandey, the lawyer for the complainant Vijay Mishra, stated that Gandhi's lawyer Kashi Prasad Shukla had finished cross-examining his client.
He noted that the court scheduled the hearing for February 24, the day the witness would be subjected to cross-examination.
The complaint was filed by Mishra, a local BJP politician, in response to Gandhi's allegedly offensive comment on Home Minister Amit Shah during the 2018 Karnataka assembly elections.
Mishra, who is from Hanumanganj, which is near the Kotwali Dehat police station, filed the charge in 2018. He said Gandhi had offended him with an offensive comment in 2018.
The issue has gone through several hearings over the last five years, but Gandhi is said to have avoided going to court. Gandhi appeared in court after a warrant was issued in December 2023. The Congress politician obeyed the summons in February 2024, and the special magistrate released him on bail with two sureties, each of Rs 25,000.
Gandhi pleaded not guilty and claimed the case was part of a political conspiracy against him, but the court ordered the complainant to present evidence. The court then ordered him to record his statement, which he eventually did on July 26, 2024, despite several postponements.
