Sultanpur, January 30: Hearing was held on Thursday in the defamation case against Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha and MP from Rae Bareli Rahul Gandhi. Cross-examination could not take place due to Rahul’s lawyer being unwell.
Judge Shubham Verma of the special court of MP-MLA has given the last chance and fixed February 11 as the next date for hearing.
Hanumanganj resident of Kotwali Dehat and BJP leader Vijay Mishra had filed a defamation complaint against Rahul Gandhi in the MP MLA court in the year 2018.
He had alleged that Rahul Gandhi had made indecent remarks during the Karnataka assembly elections in 2018. I am hurt by this. A five-year long process went on in the court. When Rahul Gandhi did not appear, the court issued a warrant in December 2023 and summoned him. Then in February 2024, Rahul Gandhi surrendered in the court. The special magistrate granted him bail on two sureties of Rs 25,000 each.
After this, Rahul Gandhi was called by the court to record his statement. After a dozen dates, Rahul reached the court on July 26 and recorded his statement. He declared himself innocent.
Rahul said that a political conspiracy is being hatched against me. After this, the plaintiff was directed to present evidence in the court. The hearing in the case was to be held on December 16 last year, but the hearing was postponed due to the special judge being on leave. When the cross-examination was not completed on January 2, the court fixed the dates of January 10 and January 22. The hearing was once again postponed on both these dates due to the strike of lawyers.
