UP court reserves order on defamation case

Arguments were heard on Wednesday in a defamation case involving the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, with a local MP-MLA court reserving its order for May 2, officials said.

The hearing before the MP-MLA court focused on an application filed under Section 311 (which empowers a court to call or recall any witness at any stage of a trial if it feels their testimony is necessary for a fair decision) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), with counsels for both sides presenting their arguments.

Gandhi’s counsel Kashi Prasad Shukla said the court heard submissions on the plea moved by the complainant’s lawyer Santosh Kumar Pandey and fixed May 2 for the pronouncement of its order.

The previous hearing in the matter was held on April 17. Earlier, during the March 28 hearing, the complainant had sought examination of Gandhi’s voice sample under Section 311 read with Section 91 of the CrPC.

The application requested that Gandhi’s voice sample be matched with an already submitted CD at a forensic laboratory. Gandhi’s lawyers had opposed the demand.

The defamation case was filed in October 2018 by local BJP politician Vijay Mishra. Gandhi had surrendered before the court on February 20, 2024, following which he was granted bail on two sureties of Rs 25,000 each.

He had appeared before the court on July 26, 2024, and recorded his statement, maintaining his innocence and terming the case a political conspiracy. Following his statement, the court had directed the complainant to present evidence, after which witnesses have been examined.

Earlier, Gandhi had also recorded his statement under Section 313 of the CrPC, after which the court had asked him to present his defence and evidence. However, no such evidence was submitted on his behalf, according to court proceedings.