Rahul Gandhi appears in UP court in defamation case, next hearing on August 12

Lucknow: Former Congress president and leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday appeared in the special MP/MLA court in Sultanpur in connection with a case pertaining to his alleged objectionable remarks on union home minister Amit Shah and claimed that the case was ''politically motivated''.

Rahul told the court that the case was filed against him for political reasons and with the intention to malign his image. Special magistrate Shubham Verma fixed August 12 next for further hearing of the matter. Rahul was granted exemption from personal appearance.

Rahul's lawyer Kashi Prasad Shukla later told reporters that the court proceedings lasted for around ten minutes and that there was no one from the complainant side in the court during the hearing.

BJP leader Vijay Mishra, a resident of Sultanpur, had filed an application before the court in 2018 contending that Rahul had made objectionable comments against union home minister Amit Shah at Bengaluru during the assembly elections there in the same year.

Mishra had said in his application that he had a video clip of the Congress leader's alleged remarks on Amit Shah. He claimed that the video clip was shown to him by two workers of the saffron party. The court will hear the testimonies of the witnesses for the complainant on the next date of hearing.

Earlier the special MP/MLA court had, on February 20, granted bail to Rahul after he surrendered before the court, after filling two bail bonds of Rs 25 thousand each.

Although Rahul had then been granted exemption from personal appearance, the court had directed him to appear in person to answer to the charges levelled against him.

Rahul was accorded a warm welcome by the Congress workers who had turned up in large numbers. On his way back to Lucknow to board flight for Delhi, the Congress leader stopped at a cobbler's shop and spoke to him about his work.