Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will appear before the MP-MLA court in Uttar Pradesh's Sultanpur on Friday for a hearing in a defamation case. Congress district president Abhishek Singh Rana said that Gandhi will arrive at Lucknow airport at 9 am on Friday. Following his arrival, he will proceed towards Sultanpur. This visit comes in the wake of a defamation case filed by local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijay Mishra on August 4, 2018.
The case alleged that Gandhi made objectionable remarks about Amit Shah, the current Union Home Minister and then BJP president, in 2018. It should be noted here that the court has granted bail to Gandhi in this case on February 20 this year. However, Special Magistrate Shubham Verma has summoned Gandhi to record his statement on July 26.
What's the case?
The case stems from a lawsuit filed in 2018 by BJP leader Vijay Mishra in which he accused Gandhi of making objectionable remarks against Amit Shah. The complainant had referred to Gandhi’s comment that the BJP which claims to believe in honest and clean politics has a party president who is an “accused” in a murder case. Gandhi had made these allegations at a press conference in Bengaluru on May 8, 2018, during the Karnataka elections. Shah was the BJP president when Gandhi made the remark.
BJP demands apology from Rahul Gandhi on NEET issue
Earlier on Wednesday (July 24), the BJP accused Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition, of fuelling a lack of trust in India's examination system following the NEET-UG paper leak at a few places, and asked if he will apologise after the Supreme Court's verdict on the issue. The court on Tuesday dismissed the pleas seeking cancellation and re-test of the exam, holding that there was no evidence on record to conclude that it was "vitiated" on account of "systemic breach" of its sanctity. The court said the leak occurred in a couple of cities.
(With inputs from PTI)
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