Sultanpur/Lucknow, Oct 27 The Special MP-MLA court in Sultanpur, which acquitted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case over his remarks against Amit Shah, has observed that the complainant was not an aggrieved person and was not entitled to seek legal recourse as the BJP didn’t authorise him.
The court, in its 49-page judgement on Monday, held that Gandhi’s alleged statement was prima facie not “defamatory” in view of the specific legal and political background of the case.
The case was filed by BJP leader Vijay Mishra.
Making a strong observation, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Shubham Verma brushed aside Mishra’s argument that he is entitled to file a complaint based on his status as a BJP office bearer.
“The legal factual position is clear: he is not authorised by the BJP to do so, and no statement to that effect has been made,” he said.
“For the sake of argument, the complainant’s contention that he is entitled to file a complaint as a BJP office bearer is accepted; then this argument would grant all BJP office bearers and members the right to file a suit for the alleged statement/slander, which in the court’s opinion, would give rise to numerous suits,” he further said.
The court also observed that the Mishra did not examine any independent witness to prove that his public standing was damaged.
“The complaint alleges that one member of the organisation humiliated another by showing him a video, while Ramchandra Dubey and Anil Mishra, the witnesses who watched the video with the complainant, made no claim of feeling humiliated,” the judge said while pronouncing the verdict during the proceedings that lasted for 14 minutes.
“In a law-governed civilised society, any concept which gives rise to/supports multiple suits (bahuvaad) cannot be recognised by the law and courts, and in particular in view of the provisions laid down in section 199 of the CrPC regarding action for criminal defamation, it cannot be accepted at all,” he added.
Speaking to PTI on Tuesday about the judgement, Gandhi’s advocate Kashi Prasad Shukla described the defamation complaint as “politically motivated”.
“On looking at the complaint narrative as a whole, the manner in which the facts and events have been described in the complaint letter prima facie appears to be doubtful, unrealistic and unverifiable and motivated by political or other motives, with the sole purpose of presenting the complaint by hook or crook, which is totally against the intent of the law,” Shukla said.
Speaking about what transpired on Monday, Shukla said, “On the judgement day, Rahul Gandhi arrived at the court at around 11.19 am. The hearing in the Special MP-MLA court lasted for around 14 minutes, after which Special Judge for MP-MLA cases Shubham Verma acquitted Rahul Gandhi. After the judgement, Rahul Gandhi ‘thanked’ the judge.”
Shukla further said that 140 hearings took place in the defamation case, of which Gandhi made four personal appearances.
“Rahul Gandhi personally appeared for the first time on February 20, 2024; followed by July 26, 2024; February 20, 2026 and finally on October 26 (Monday),” Shukla told PTI.
Mishra’s advocate Santosh Pandey told PTI that they will appeal the case to the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court.
“We will appeal in the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, since it is a complaint case, and because Rahul Gandhi has been acquitted,” Pandey said.
When asked about plans to move the high court, Mishra said, “We have 60 days to file the appeal in the High Court from the day the judgement is delivered. We are yet to get the certified copy of the judgement. We will thoroughly go through it and analyse it from the legal point of view. After this, we will move the High Court.”
In its 49-page judgement, the court said, “In the opinion of the court, the complainant in the present case is neither an aggrieved person … nor is the alleged statement prima facie defamatory in view of the specific legal and political background of the present case. Therefore, in such a situation, the accused Rahul Gandhi deserves to be acquitted under section 500 of the Indian Penal Code under the charges leveled against him.”
“In the considered opinion of the court, the allegations made by the accused are not of a higher level/category/higher degree threshold than what is normally required by law in the context of political persons and parties, which can bring his statement in the category of defamation or make it defamatory,” the court said.
Mishra, a local BJP leader and former chairman of the District Cooperative Bank in Sultanpur, filed the defamation complaint against Gandhi on August 4, 2018.
The case relates to the remarks made by Gandhi against Shah at a rally in Bengaluru ahead of the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections.
(PTI News)
