An Ahmedabad court yesterday (1 May) summoned Congress president Rahul Gandhi to appear before it in connection with a criminal defamation case initiated by a BJP worker for allegedly referring to BJP national president Amit Shah as a ‘murder accused’, reports The New Indian Express.
The summons, issued by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate D S Dabhi, is returnable on 6 July; the judge noted that prime facie a case existed against Gandhi for committing criminal defamation.
It is alleged that during a campaign rally in Jabalpur on 23 May, Gandhi had said, "Murder-accused BJP chief Amit Shah, wah, kya shaan hai (how glorious)!”
The comments were a reference to the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, in which Shah was previously an accused; the complainant claimed that this incorrect as Shah had already been acquitted in the case by a CBI court in 2015.
Gandhi is also facing other legal troubles for his incorrect remarks during campaign rallies. The Supreme Court came down heavily on him for claiming that it had also agreed with the ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ (the watchman is a thief) statement, when in fact the apex court had given a clean chit to the government in the Rafale deal matter.
The Congress president was also recently issued a legal notice by the BJP for claiming that the Modi government had passed a law allowing tribals to be shot.
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