Rahul Gandhi gets relief in Sultanpur defamation case, notice in another case

Sultanpur/Hathras (UP), Jul 15 (PTI) A court in Uttar Pradesh's Sultanpur on Wednesday rejected a revision petition seeking forensic test of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's voice sample in a 2018 defamation case related to his remarks against Home Minister Amit Shah while another court in Hathras issued notice to him on a complaint linked to the 2020 Boolgarhi rape case. The MP-MLA court provided Gandhi the relief on the petition filed by BJP leader Vijay Mishra. Gandhi's counsel, Kashi Prasad Shukla, said Additional District Judge Rakesh Yadav dismissed the revision petition, holding that the application had been filed after an inordinate delay and lacked merit. Mishra had sought matching of Gandhi's alleged voice in a CD placed on record with a voice sample through a forensic science laboratory. The court observed that the trial court had exercised its discretion properly and that no interference was warranted. The matter will now proceed before the trial court, where arguments are scheduled to be heard on July 18, Shukla said. Counsel for the complainant, Santosh Kumar Pandey, said they respected the court's order but would challenge it before the Allahabad High Court. The MP-MLA court had rejected the application seeking voice sample examination on May 2. The revision petition against that order was filed on May 21, arguments were heard on July 1, and the order was reserved before being pronounced on Wednesday. The defamation complaint stems from remarks allegedly made by Gandhi against Shah during the 2018 Karnataka assembly elections campaign. Mishra filed the complaint in the Sultanpur MP-MLA court, claiming the remarks were defamatory. In the Hathras case, Additional District Judge Vijay Kumar of the MP/MLA court issued notice to Gandhi on the revision petition in the defamation complaint linked to his remarks on the 2020 Boolgarhi rape case. The judge issued the notice after admitting the revision petition and fixed August 11 for the next hearing, advocate Munna Singh Pundhir said. Pundhir, who represents Ravi, Ram Kumar alias Ramu and Lav Kush -- the three men acquitted of rape charges in the Boolgarhi case -- said an Additional Civil Judge (Senior Division) and MP/MLA court had on May 13 dismissed the complaint against Gandhi. Challenging that order, the complainants filed the revision petition, he said. A Dalit girl from was allegedly gangraped in September 2020, and died days later during treatment at a hospital in Delhi. Four men of her village were accused of committing the crime. Three of them - Ramkumar, Luvkush and Ravi - were acquitted, while Sandeep was found guilty and is still in jail. According to Pundhir, Gandhi had visited Boolgarhi village on December 12, 2024, and allegedly stated that the accused were "roaming free" while the victim's family remained confined to their home. The advocate claimed the remarks were defamatory as the three men had been acquitted of rape charges following a CBI investigation and a trial that lasted over two-and-a-half years. The complainants had earlier served a legal notice on Gandhi seeking damages of Rs 1.5 crore -- Rs 50 lakh each for the three acquitted men -- before filing the criminal defamation complaint in the trial court, the lawyer said. PTI COR ABN ZMN