A Sultanpur Court today granted bail to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case lodged by BJP leader Vijay Mishra for his remarks against Home Minister Amit Shah in 2018.
The Congress leader secured bail on a surety of Rs 25,000 and a personal bond of the same amount. During the proceedings, the Congress leader maintained his innocence, denying any wrongdoing in his remarks. The special court has not given any further date in the matter.
Advocate Santosh Pandey who appeared for the BJP leader said that Rahul Gandhi surrendered in the court today. He added that the Congress MP can be given a maximum punishment of 2 years if sufficient evidence is found.
The case filed by BJP leader Vijay Mishra on August 4, 2018, accuses Rahul Gandhi of making objectionable comments against Union Home Minister Amit Shah at a press conference held in Bengaluru on May 8, 2018. The senior Congress leader allegedly called Amit Shah, a murder accused.
The BJP leader asserted that during the press conference Rahul Gandhi commented that the BJP claims to believe in honest and clean politics but has a party president who is an accused in a murder case. Amit Shah was a president when Rahul Gandhi made the remark. Four years before Rahul Gandhi’s remark, a special CBI court in Mumbai had discharged Amit Shah in 2005 fake encounter case when he was a minister of state for home in Gujarat.
Reportedly, Rahul Gandhi could not attend the last hearing in the special MP-MLA court on January 18 as he was busy with his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. In addition, the senior Congress leader had skipped several summons. BJP leader Mishra earlier said that the BJP is the biggest party of the country and calling its then president a murderer is unjustifiable.