The case concerned remarks Gandhi made about Shah in 2018. The Times of India reported that the allegations related to comments about Shah, who was then president of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The report did not provide the court’s formal reasoning for the outcome.
According to The Times of India, Vijay Mishra filed the defamation complaint against Gandhi on August 4, 2018. The newspaper described Mishra as a local BJP politician and former chairman of the District Cooperative Bank in Sultanpur, and said he alleged that Gandhi’s comments were defamatory.
The Times of India also reported that Gandhi appeared before the court in 2023 and secured bail. The reports identify the Sultanpur proceedings as the case arising from the 2018 remarks, but the formal wording of the court’s order is not included in the material reviewed.
Hindustan Times reported the acquittal while attributing the information to the Congress party. The Times of India described the outcome as dismissal of the criminal defamation case, while Hindustan Times used the term acquittal; no supplied report provides the court’s detailed legal rationale.