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Rahul Gandhi acquitted in Amit Shah defamation case; UP’s Sultanpur court says remarks not defamatory

hellohimachalse@gmail.com 26 Oct 2026 49 min ago

Sultanpur: The MP/MLA court in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, has acquitted Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, in a defamation case related to his remarks about Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Delivering the verdict today, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Shubham Verma said that Rahul Gandhi’s remarks were not defamatory in nature.

The Congress leader was present in the courtroom when the verdict was announced. The case pertained to a statement he made during the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections. Following the verdict, Congress supporters celebrated outside the Sultanpur MP/MLA court by bursting firecrackers and distributing sweets.

After the judgment, Rahul Gandhi left for Lucknow. Earlier, while he was travelling to Sultanpur, vehicles in his convoy were involved in a collision on the Purvanchal Expressway. According to reports, five vehicles and an ambulance were involved in the incident. No one sustained serious injuries.

What was the case about?

The matter dates back to May 2018, when Rahul Gandhi made remarks about Amit Shah, the then national president of the BJP, during the Karnataka Assembly election campaign in Bengaluru. Rahul Gandhi had stated, “People in India forget that the president of the BJP is a murder accused. That’s the truth.”

The remark referred to the alleged fake encounter case involving Sohrabuddin Sheikh. In 2014, a special CBI court in Mumbai discharged Amit Shah of all charges in the case. Following Rahul Gandhi’s statement, local BJP leader Vijay Mishra filed a criminal defamation complaint against him in the Sultanpur court on August 4, 2018.
On November 27, 2023, the MP/MLA court in Sultanpur summoned Rahul Gandhi to face trial. He was granted bail after appearing before the court on February 20, 2024.

In July 2024, Rahul Gandhi recorded his statement and denied the allegations, maintaining that the complaint was politically motivated. During the trial, the complainant’s side presented witnesses and evidence.

The complainant also requested that a sample of Rahul Gandhi’s voice be compared with the recording in question. However, the trial court rejected the request. Subsequent petitions challenging the order, filed before both the lower court and the High Court, were also unsuccessful.

After final arguments from both sides concluded in October 2024, the court scheduled October 26 as the date for delivering the verdict.

What did the court say?

The court ruled that Rahul Gandhi’s remarks could not be considered defamatory. With this verdict, the trial court proceedings against Rahul Gandhi in the criminal defamation case arising from his comments about Amit Shah have come to an end. However, the complainant has the option of challenging the decision before the High Court.

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