The MP/MLA court in Sultanpur adjourned Rahul Gandhi’s defamation case to October 17 after a key witness failed to appear. The case dates back to 2018, filed by BJP leader Vijay Mishra over remarks made during the Karnataka polls.
Sultanpur: The defamation case against Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, once again saw no progress on Monday as the scheduled witness failed to appear before the MP/MLA court in Sultanpur.
The matter has now been adjourned and the next hearing has been fixed for October 17, according to the lawyers involved in the case.
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Rahul Gandhi’s counsel, senior advocate Kashi Prasad Shukla, explained that the court had listed the testimony of a witness, Ram Chandra Dubey, for Monday’s proceedings.
However, the witness did not appear, and therefore,
“the court postponed the proceedings to October 17.”
On the other hand, Advocate Santosh Kumar Pandey, who is representing the complainant in this matter, also confirmed the new date.
He stated that
“the court has fixed October 17 as the next date of hearing.”
The last hearing in this case was conducted on September 23. The matter itself dates back to 2018, when local BJP leader Vijay Mishra, a resident of Hanumanganj in the Kotwali Dehat area of Sultanpur district, filed a complaint against Rahul Gandhi.
He alleged that during the Karnataka Assembly election campaign that year, Gandhi made objectionable remarks which caused him “distress.”
For several years, Rahul Gandhi did not appear before the court, which led to the issuance of a warrant in December 2023.
Eventually, he surrendered in the MP/MLA court in February 2024. After his surrender, the special magistrate granted him bail on two sureties of Rs 25,000 each.
Later, on July 26, 2024, Gandhi personally recorded his statement before the court. While asserting his innocence, he strongly denied the charges and said that the case was nothing but “a political conspiracy.”
Following this, the court directed the complainant to produce witnesses to support his case. On April 28, 2024, the complainant’s counsel presented a witness named Anil Mishra, a resident of Pitambarpur Kala village. He was examined and later cross-examined by Rahul Gandhi’s lawyer, Kashi Prasad Shukla.
Now, with the absence of another key witness, the legal proceedings have once again been delayed, and all eyes will be on the next date of hearing, October 17, 2025, when the testimony is expected to continue.
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