A special MP-MLA court in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, on Monday, October 26, 2026, acquitted Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case dating back to 2018, ruling that his remarks about Union Home Minister Amit Shah were not defamatory.
File photo: Rahul Gandhi. Photo: Mrhitmam, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
What Happened: Acquittal in Court, Celebrations Outside
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Shubham Verma delivered the verdict in the Sultanpur special MP-MLA court, holding that Gandhi's statements did not constitute defamation. Gandhi, the Lok Sabha MP from Raebareli, was personally present in the courtroom when the judgment was pronounced.
Outside the court complex, Congress workers celebrated with drums and sweets. Security arrangements had been strengthened in Sultanpur, particularly around the court complex, in view of the proceedings. Speaking to reporters outside the court, Congress MLC Deepak Singh said, "We respectfully accept the court's decision, and the truth has ultimately prevailed. Rahul Gandhi had to face many hardships during this period."
File photo: Amit Shah, who was the BJP president at the time of the remarks. Photo: Captgs, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The Case: A 2018 Remark From the Karnataka Campaign
The case began with a criminal defamation complaint filed on August 4, 2018, by BJP leader Vijay Mishra, a former chairman of the Sultanpur District Cooperative Bank. It concerned remarks Gandhi made at a rally in Bengaluru ahead of the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections, when Shah was the BJP president.
According to the complaint, Gandhi had said: "People in India forget that the president of BJP is a murder accused. That's the truth. The party that talks about honesty, decency, has a person who has been accused of murder as president." Gandhi's reference was to the Sohrabuddin encounter case, in which Shah had been discharged by a special CBI court in 2014.
The case travelled a long road: Gandhi appeared before the court in 2023 and secured bail, and in February 2024 he was granted bail on personal bonds. Earlier this year he travelled from Lucknow to the Sultanpur court amid heavy security to record his statement. The verdict had initially been fixed for October 13, and was then rescheduled to October 26.
What Both Sides Said
The complainant's case was that Gandhi's remarks were derogatory and amounted to criminal defamation under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code. Gandhi disputed the allegations, his stance being that the remarks had been presented out of context. The court sided with the defence, concluding the statements were not defamatory in nature. Plaintiff Vijay Mishra's lawyer Santosh Pandey confirmed after the verdict that Gandhi had been acquitted.
As of this writing, no official reaction from the BJP central leadership or from Shah himself has been reported on the verdict. Congress leaders have welcomed it as a vindication; the complainant's side has not yet announced whether it will challenge the acquittal in a higher court, which remains a legal option.
Not to Be Confused With the Modi Surname Case
Readers should not confuse this case with Gandhi's other, better-known defamation case. In 2023, a Gujarat court convicted and sentenced him to two years' imprisonment over his 2019 remark at an election rally in Kolar, Karnataka — "all thieves have Modi surname" — linking Prime Minister Narendra Modi with fugitives like Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi. That conviction led to his disqualification from Parliament, where he then represented Wayanad, before the Supreme Court stayed the conviction and enabled him to continue as a lawmaker. Today's Sultanpur acquittal is a separate case, with a separate complaint, and it ends in Gandhi's favour.
What Happens Next
The acquittal closes an eight-year-old case, but two things remain open. First, whether the complainant appeals against the acquittal in a higher court. Second, the political reading: for the Congress, the verdict is a morale boost for its leader; for the BJP, the case was always presented as a matter of defamation rather than politics. How both sides frame it in the coming days will show how much weight this verdict carries beyond the courtroom.
Frequently Asked Questions
What case was Rahul Gandhi acquitted in?
A 2018 criminal defamation case in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, over his remarks referring to then-BJP president Amit Shah as a murder accused during the 2018 Karnataka election campaign.
Who filed the complaint?
BJP leader Vijay Mishra, a former chairman of the Sultanpur District Cooperative Bank, filed the complaint on August 4, 2018, under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code.
What did the court say?
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Shubham Verma held that Gandhi's remarks were not defamatory in nature, and acquitted him. Gandhi was present in court for the verdict.
Is this the same as the Modi surname case?
No. The Modi surname case (2019 Kolar remark) led to a 2023 Gujarat conviction and a two-year sentence, later stayed by the Supreme Court. The Sultanpur case is separate and has now ended in acquittal.
Can the acquittal be challenged?
Yes, the complainant can appeal against an acquittal in a higher court. No such appeal has been announced yet.
Sources
Facts in this article were cross-checked across Bar and Bench, Live Law, IANS, PTI (via The Sen Times) and Sambad English reporting on the October 26 verdict. Where outlets differ slightly — notably on procedural dates — the most consistently reported version is given, and the court's reasoning is reported as stated in the verdict coverage.