Rahul Gandhi appears before court in 5-yr-old defamation case, gets bail

Sultanpur (UP): Amid his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi appeared before an MP-MLA court on Tuesday in a more than five-year-old defamation case, after which he was granted conditional bail, prosecution sources said here.

Prosecution sources said that amidst tight security, the Congress leader appeared in the court of Special Judge Yogesh Yadav and submitted surrender and bail applications. During hearing Rahul's counsel, Kashi Prasad Shukla, they termed the allegation baseless and requested the court grant bail.

Prosecution sources said that the bail application was opposed by the prosecution side. "After hearing the arguments of both sides, the court granted conditional bail to Rahul and directed him to submit two bail bonds of Rs 25,000 each. The court has fixed March 2 as the next date of hearing," they said.

As the news of Rahul's arrival spread, a large number of supporters gathered outside the District Court. In order to ensure that the system was not disrupted, the court heard the case as soon as possible and released Rahul on bail.

After getting bail, Rahul left for Amethi, where he will resume his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Fursatganj.

It may be noted that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijay Mishra, a resident of Hanumanganj at Kotwali Dehat police station in the district, filed a defamation case (complaint) in court against Congress leader Rahul on August 4, 2018.

Mishra had alleged that Congress leader Rahul had made objectionable remarks against the then BJP national president and now Union Home Minister Amit Shah at a press conference held in Karnataka's capital, Bengaluru, on July 15, 2018. In this case, advocate Santosh Pandey has filed a complaint on behalf of Vijay Mishra.