Sultanpur, October 26, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The complainant in a defamation case linked to remarks allegedly made by Rahul Gandhi about Union Home Minister Amit Shah in 2018 has announced plans to challenge the Congress leader’s acquittal before an appellate court.
Vijay Mishra said on Monday that he would obtain a certified copy of the special MP-MLA court’s judgment in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, examine it with his advocate and seek legal advice before filing an appeal.
The court acquitted the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha in a case registered under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with punishment for defamation.
Santosh Pandey, counsel for Mishra, said the court did not consider the complainant an aggrieved person in the matter and also concluded that Gandhi’s alleged remark was not defamatory. According to Pandey, the court accepted the CD submitted by the complainant as proven evidence but did not find grounds to convict Gandhi.
The complainant’s side had not received a certified copy of the judgment at the time of the announcement. Mishra said he had been pursuing the case since filing it in 2018.
Gandhi arrived at the special court at around 11.10 a.m. on Monday. Security arrangements were tightened on the premises, while Congress workers gathered near Kurebhar on the Purvanchal Expressway to welcome him.
The case stems from a press conference Gandhi addressed in Bengaluru in May 2018, during campaigning for the Karnataka Assembly elections. Mishra alleged that Gandhi used the word “murderer” while referring to Shah, who was then the BJP president, and claimed the remark damaged the reputation of the BJP and its workers.
Mishra, then a BJP district vice-president and chairman of the Sultanpur District Cooperative Bank, filed the complaint on August 4, 2018, submitting a CD of the alleged statement.
The case was later transferred to the special MP-MLA court. Gandhi was summoned in November 2023 and appeared before it on February 20, 2024, when he was granted bail on two personal bonds of ₹25,000 each. He denied the allegations.
During the trial, the complainant’s side presented statements from Mishra, Anil Mishra and Ramchand Dubey. The court rejected a request to obtain Gandhi’s voice sample for comparison with the recording.
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