Sultanpur Court Seeks Lower Court Records in Gandhi Defamation Case

The Sultanpur district court in Uttar Pradesh has called for the submission of case records from a lower court in relation to a 2018 defamation lawsuit involving Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The request for records follows a plea submitted by the complainant, who is contesting an earlier decision to dismiss his appeal for obtaining voice samples from Gandhi for forensic comparison.

Special Judge MP-MLA Rakesh Kumar has set June 5 as the date for further proceedings. This comes after the MP-MLA court rejected the complainant's application for voice testing, prompting the appeal in the district court. In another related development, a subsequent hearing for the ongoing defamation case before the MP-MLA court has been scheduled for June 17.

The defamation suit was initially filed in October 2018. In February 2024, Gandhi appeared before the court and secured bail. Throughout this legal process, he has maintained that the case is politically motivated. During the legal proceedings, his lawyer Kashi Prasad Shukla formally entered representation on his behalf.

(With inputs from agencies.)