Rahul Gandhi likely in Ahmedabad court today in yet another defamation case

india

Updated: Jul 09, 2019 10:16 IST

Congress leader Rahul Gandh will likely appear in an Ahmedabad court today in connection with a defamation case filed by a BJP corporator who alleged Gandhi had made derogatory statements against Amit Shah during an election rally in April.

Metropolitan magistrate DS Dabhi had issued summons holding that prima facie there was a case of criminal defamation against Gandhi under Indian Penal Code Section 500. The complaint states that at an election rally in Jabalpur on April 23, Gandhi had said, “Murder-accused BJP chief Amit Shah, wah, kya shaan hai (how glorious)”

BJP corporator Krishnavadan Brahmbhatt, who filed the complaint, contended that Shah was acquitted by a CBI court in 2015 and the acquittal was known ”in all political circles including that of the Congress”.

Gandhi is due to appear on July 12 in another magistrate’s court in a defamation suit filed by the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank chairman. The suit alleged that Congress leaders had claimed that the bank was involved in a scam to swap ₹750 crore in scrapped notes with valid currency after demonetisation.

Last week, Gandhi appeared in a Patna court, which granted him bail in connection with a defamation case filed by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi that alleged the Congress leader had said “all thieves have the surname Modi”, at an election rally in Maharashtra.

He also appeared in a Mumbai court last week, where he pleaded not guilty in a defamation case filed by an RSS worker over comments allegedly linking journalist Gauri Lankesh’s killing with “BJP-RSS ideology”. He was granted bail on surety of Rs.15,000.