A court in Sultanpur on Tuesday granted bail to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a 2018 defamation case. Those aware of the development said the Congress leader secured the bail by filling two bonds of Rs 25,000 each and on a personal surety of two individuals.
The bail was granted in a five-year-old defamation case, which was lodged against Gandhi for allegedly making a ‘defamatory’ statement against the current Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The defamation case, filed by BJP Leader Vijay Mishra in 2018, accused Gandhi of making “objectionable” comments against Shah at a press conference in Bengaluru. While addressing the reporters on Tuesday, Mishra said that “BJP is the biggest party of the country and calling its (then) president a murderer was unjustifiable”.
The lawyers aware of the matter said Gandhi skipped the last hearing on January 18 as he was busy in the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. He appeared before the court on Tuesday. “During the hearing, Gandhi was granted bail by Judge Yogesh Yadav after filling the bail bonds,” said Kashi Prasad Shukla, Gandhi’s counsel.
On Monday, the Congress leader was in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi for the first public rally since his shock loss in 2019. Gandhi reached Amethi as part of his ongoing yatra and addressed a huge crowd in the constituency, which he had won handsomely thrice, but lost to BJP leader Smriti Irani by 55,000 votes in 2019. On his visit to Amethi, his home turf, thousands jostled to catch a glimpse of the 53-year-old Gandhi and his entourage in a red open-air jeep.
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