Sultanpur: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was granted bail by a special court here on Tuesday in connection with a defamation case stemming from his reference to Union Home Minister Amit Shah as a murder accused in 2018.
Gandhi secured bail upon providing a surety of Rs 25,000 and a personal bond of the same amount. Asserting his innocence, Gandhi informed the court that he had not made any defamatory remarks.
The case originated from a press conference held by Gandhi in Bengaluru during the 2018 Karnataka assembly elections, where he allegedly made statements deemed objectionable about Shah. BJP leader Vijay Mishra filed a defamation complaint on August 4, 2018, accusing Gandhi of damaging Shah's reputation.
Mishra specifically cited Gandhi's assertion that despite the BJP's claims of maintaining clean politics, the party had a president who faced accusations in a murder case. At the time, Shah was serving as the BJP president.
However, it's important to note that a special CBI court in Mumbai had exonerated Shah in 2014 from a 2005 fake encounter case, in which he was implicated during his tenure as the Gujarat Home Minister.
Gandhi's absence from the previous court hearing on January 18, due to his ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, had drawn criticism from the BJP.
Today's bail follows his legal team's submission of an application seeking exemption from personal appearance.
