Jharkhand court grants bail to Rahul Gandhi in defamation case

New Delhi, Aug 6: A special MP/MLA court in Jharkhand on Tuesday granted bail to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case related to remarks he allegedly made against Union Home Minister Amit Shah, reports Bar & Bench. According to Bar & Bench, Judge Supriya Rani Tigga of the Chaibasa court granted bail after Gandhi personally appeared before the court in compliance with its direction.

The case stems from a complaint filed by Pratap Katiyar, a resident of Chaibasa, who alleged that Gandhi made derogatory comments about Shah during a Congress convention in 2018, including an accusation linking Shah to a murder case.

Earlier this year, the Jharkhand High Court had rejected Gandhi’s plea to quash the case, allowing trial proceedings to continue. Following this, on February 27, the Chaibasa court issued a non-bailable warrant for Gandhi after he failed to appear. Though he challenged the order in the High Court, which stayed the warrant, the trial court later issued another non-bailable warrant, directing Gandhi to appear on June 26. Gandhi again approached the High Court, which then advised him to appear before the trial court, leading to his personal appearance and the grant of bail this week.