A special MP-MLA court in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, acquitted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on October 26 in a criminal defamation case over remarks he made about Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The court ruled that his comments were not controversial.

The verdict closes a case that has followed Gandhi for years. It traces back to the 2018 election campaign, when he criticised Amit Shah, then the BJP president, at a rally. Vijay Mishra, a BJP leader from Uttar Pradesh, filed the complaint. He alleged that Gandhi made improper remarks about Shah during a rally in Bengaluru, held while Karnataka was heading into its 2018 assembly elections. The case was registered under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code, the provisions that deal with defamation and its punishment.

Court finds no offence in the remarks. The judgment was a clean win for Gandhi. The court stated that he was innocent and that his remarks were not controversial. That finding goes to the heart of the case, which hinged on whether the words spoken at the rally crossed the line into criminal defamation. The court’s answer was no.

Rahul Gandhi is innocent, and his remarks were not controversial, the court held.

Gandhi appears in person. Gandhi attended the special MP-MLA court in person on the day of the verdict. He had already appeared before the court in 2023, after which he was granted bail. Those hearings marked the stages of a case that stretched across several years before reaching its conclusion.

A verdict pushed back by two weeks. The judgment was originally scheduled for October 13. It was then moved to October 26. The delay meant the court’s ruling landed on the date that finally closed the matter, and it arrived with Gandhi standing before the bench to hear it.

The legal team behind the win. Senior advocates RS Cheema, Kashi Shukla, Taranum Cheema, Prasanna S and Akash Singh argued the case on Gandhi’s behalf. Their arguments carried the defence through the proceedings until the court delivered its decision in his favour.

Why this matters beyond Sultanpur. The case pits a sitting opposition leader against one of the most senior figures in the Union government. A court holding that Gandhi’s words about Amit Shah were not controversial is a direct rebuttal of the complaint that brought the case in the first place. For Congress, it hands the party a legal victory at a time when its leaders and the BJP remain locked in a sharp political contest. For Gandhi, it removes a criminal defamation case that had hung over him since 2018.

What the verdict settles. The acquittal does not change the broader political debate between Gandhi and Amit Shah. What it does settle is the legal question of whether the 2018 remarks amounted to criminal defamation. On that question, the Sultanpur court has ruled for Gandhi, and it has done so after a long wait that ended with a clear finding of innocence.

The timeline in brief. The remarks were made in 2018 during the election campaign. The complaint was registered that same year. Gandhi appeared before the court in 2023 and obtained bail. The verdict, first expected on October 13, was delivered on October 26 after being rescheduled. The court found him innocent and said his remarks were not controversial.

For a leader who has spent years defending his words in court, the verdict is a moment of relief and a public vindication. The Sultanpur bench sent a clear message on the central question of the case: a political attack in a heated election rally did not, in the court’s view, amount to criminal defamation.