Rahul Gandhi's Lawyer Cross Examines Witness In 2018 Defamation Case

In a defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi being heard in the MP-MLA court here, his lawyer on Monday cross-examined a witness. The court has scheduled further cross-examination for Tuesday.

Gandhi's lawyer Kashi Prasad Shukla said that on Monday, witness Ramchandra Dubey was cross-examined in the case. The court has scheduled the next hearing for Tuesday to continue the cross-examination.

Earlier on November 26, the hearing in the defamation case against Gandhi, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, was deferred to December 8 due to the death of a lawyer.

Gandhi's lawyer Kashi Prasad Shukla had then said that due to a condolence meeting held (on November 26) for the death of civil court lawyer Sudhanshu Upadhyay, all lawyers abstained from work, preventing any proceedings.

The case dates back to August 4, 2018, when BJP leader Vijay Mishra filed a defamation suit against Gandhi, alleging that the Congress leader had made objectionable remarks against the then BJP national president and current Union Home Minister Amit Shah during the Karnataka assembly election campaign.

Following Gandhi's failure to appear during the five-year court proceedings, the court issued a warrant against him in December 2023.

Subsequently, in February 2024, Gandhi surrendered before the court. The special judge granted him bail on two sureties of Rs 25,000 each.

On July 26, 2024, Gandhi filed his statement in court, in which he declared himself innocent and called the case a political conspiracy.

The court then directed the plaintiff to present evidence. Witnesses have been presented continuously since then.

So far, three witnesses have been cross-examined by him, Shukla told PTI on Monday.