Sultanpur (UP), Jul 6 An MP-MLA court in Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur on Monday adjourned the hearing in a defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi till July 18.
On July 1, a district court reserved its order till July 15 on a revision petition related to the same defamation case against the Raebareli MP after hearing arguments from both sides.
Now the main defamation case has been listed for hearing on July 18, after completion of arguments in the revision plea filed by local BJP leader Vijay Mishra, challenging a lower court order rejecting his request for a forensic test to match the voice in a CD allegedly containing Gandhi’s “defamatory” remarks with that of the Congress leader.
The hearing in the main defamation case was adjourned on Monday, Kashi Prasad Shukla, the advocate representing Gandhi, said.
The case relates to Gandhi’s alleged remarks against then-BJP president Amit Shah during a press conference in the run-up to the Karnataka Assembly elections in 2018.
Shukla said even if the sessions court dismisses the revision petition and the plaintiff approaches the high court, the hearing in the main case can still be delayed because the case records would remain with the lower court.
Mishra’s counsel Santosh Pandey filed the revision petition on May 21, challenging a lower court order that rejected his request to provide voice samples as evidence.
The petition is currently pending before the court of Additional District Judge-5, which reserved its order till July 15.
In his defamation suit, Mishra, a local BJP leader and the former chairman of the District Co-operative Bank, accused Gandhi of making derogatory remarks against Amit Shah ahead of the 2018 Karnataka polls.
The trial has been going on for five years.
In December 2023, a warrant was issued against Gandhi for non-appearance before the court. He surrendered in February 2024, before being granted bail.
In July 2024, Gandhi recorded his statement before the court, claiming innocence and terming the case a political conspiracy.
The plaintiff's lawyer later sought forensic examination of Gandhi's voice sample with that of an audio clip purportedly containing the Congress leader’s remarks against Shah, which the lower court rejected, prompting Mishra to file the revision petition.
