UP court orders Rahul Gandhi to appear in defamation case on July 2

A court in Uttar Pradesh has asked Rahul Gandhi to appear in court on July 2 for a defamation case filed against him for remarks about Amit Shah

An MP-MLA court in Uttar Pradesh's Sultanpur on Wednesday asked Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to personally appear in court on July 2 in connection with a defamation case filed against him for allegedly making objectionable remarks against Union Home Minister Amit Shah, according to PTI.

New Delhi, Jun 25 (ANI): Congress MP Rahul Gandhi takes oath as a Member of the 18th Lok Sabha during its second day, at the Parliament, in New Delhi on Tuesday. (ANI Photo/SansadTV)

Rahul Gandhi will have to be present on the next day of the hearing, for a complaint filed against him by BJP leader Vijay Mishra.

Complaint lawyer Santosh Kumar Pandey said that another person, Ram Pratap, wanted to be made party to the case. Gandhi's lawyer Kashi Prasad Shukla argued that Pratap was neither a victim nor involved in the case. Regardless, the court said it would like the Congress leader to appear in court, according to PTI

Previously Gandhi had also halted his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ on February 20 this year, to appear in court for bail.

The defamation complaint was filed against Rahul Gandhi on August 4, 2018, taking offence to his comments at a press conference in Bengaluru. Gandhi attacked the BJP and said that the party claimed to believe in honest and clean politics but has a party president who is an "accused" in a murder case, referring to Shah who was then the BJP chief.

Gandhi also has another defamation case pending, for which a Bengaluru court granted him bail. The BJP had accused Congress leaders of spreading false ads targeting its party leaders, including then chief minister Basavaraj Bommai.

The Congress leader got bail in the case, with the next hearing to resume on June 30. Ex-Congress MP DK Suresh provided property worth Rs. 75 lakh as security on Gandhi’s behalf for bail.