Sultanpur Court Acquits Rahul Gandhi In Amit Shah Defamation Case

A court in Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur on Monday acquitted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case over his 2018 remarks referring to Union Home Minister Amit Shah as an accused in a murder case.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Shubham Verma pronounced the verdict in the case filed by BJP leader Vijay Mishra. Court held that Gandhi’s remarks were not defamatory in nature. 

The complaint arose from remarks Gandhi allegedly made during the 2018 Karnataka Assembly election campaign in Bengaluru, when he criticised the BJP for speaking about honesty and decency while having a party president who had been accused of murder.

“People in India forget that the president of BJP is a murder accused. That's the truth. The party that talks about honesty, decency, has a person who has been accused of murder as president,” Gandhi had allegedly said.

The remarks referred to Shah’s alleged involvement in the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case. Shah was discharged by a special CBI court in 2014.

Complaint filed in 2018

Mishra, a local BJP leader and former chairman of the Sultanpur District Cooperative Bank, filed the criminal defamation complaint against Gandhi on August 4, 2018, under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code [corresponding to Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)].

The complaint alleged that Gandhi’s remarks were objectionable and damaged Shah’s reputation. Gandhi disputed the allegations, maintaining that his remarks had been presented out of context.

Gandhi appeared before the Sultanpur MP/MLA court on February 20, 2024, after the court had summoned him to face proceedings. He was granted bail on the same day.

By July 2024, Gandhi had missed 12 court dates after obtaining bail, and his counsel, Kashi Prasad Shukla, had repeatedly filed applications seeking exemption from personal appearance.

During the proceedings then, the court had directed Gandhi to appear and record his statement. The case subsequently proceeded to the stage of final arguments and judgment.

Dispute over voice recording

During the proceedings, Mishra sought to have Gandhi’s voice sample compared with a recording of the speech in question. The trial court rejected the application.

The sessions court dismissed Mishra’s revision petition challenging that order, and the Allahabad High Court also rejected his challenge.

Court ultimately acquitted Gandhi on Monday, holding that the complainant was not an aggrieved person and that the remarks did not constitute defamation.

Other cases

Gandhi has also faced separate criminal defamation proceedings in Jharkhand over the remarks against Shah. In that case, BJP worker Pratap Kumar filed a complaint alleging that Gandhi’s remarks were derogatory to the party and its workers.

Gandhi approached the Jharkhand High Court seeking to quash the criminal proceedings. In May 2022, the high court issued notice to the complainant and granted interim protection against coercive action. However, in May 2023, the court vacated that protection after noting that Gandhi was not ready for hearing.

On August 25, 2025, Justice Anil Kumar Choudhary granted Gandhi further time in the matter but directed him to deposit ₹2,000 with the Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority within three weeks. The court had previously imposed a cost of ₹1,000 in May 2024 when granting him additional time.

The high court said that failure to deposit the amount within the stipulated period would result in dismissal of Gandhi’s petition without further reference to the bench. Gandhi appeared before the Chaibasa MP/MLA court on August 6, 2025, and secured bail in the case.