A special court for lawmakers in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, on Monday acquitted Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case stemming from comments he made about Amit Shah during the 2018 Karnataka assembly election campaign.

Judge Shubham Verma of the MP-MLA court dismissed the complaint, granting Gandhi relief in a prosecution that has shadowed his travel and court calendar since Shah, now Union home minister, was president of the Bharatiya Janata Party when the case was filed.

What the case was about

Prosecutors alleged Gandhi defamed Shah with remarks at a Bengaluru rally in the run-up to the May 2018 Karnataka vote, when Congress was trying to deny the BJP a foothold in the southern state. The Sultanpur complaint was one of several defamation matters Gandhi has faced; Monday’s order removes a live criminal exposure in Uttar Pradesh, a state where both national parties are preparing for the next general election cycle.

Uttar Pradesh Congress media cell chief Kunwar Singh Nishad told reporters the court “granted relief” after hearing final arguments. Gandhi met his legal team in Sultanpur on Monday, photographs distributed by news agencies showed, before the judge pronounced the acquittal.

Political backdrop

The verdict lands in a week when Parliament’s winter session agenda is crowded with fights over election administration and opposition allegations of voter-list manipulation. Gandhi has separately urged traders in Delhi to demand the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, linking street protests to the opposition’s “vote chori” campaign.

The BJP, meanwhile, has called nationwide demonstrations on Monday against Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s late father, arguing the language crossed from policy criticism into personal attack. Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal defended Kharge on Monday, saying the comment was ideological and aimed at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, not Modi’s family.

Special MP-MLA courts exist to fast-track cases against sitting legislators, but acquittals can still be challenged in higher courts if prosecutors or complainants pursue appeals. Shah’s office did not immediately issue a statement on Monday evening; the home ministry typically does not comment on decade-old state-court matters.

For Gandhi, clearing the Sultanpur docket removes one set of court dates as he leads Congress’s coordination with regional parties on state polls and the INDIA bloc’s planned rallies. It does not affect civil cases or other criminal complaints still on his schedule.

What happens next

Congress leaders are likely to frame the acquittal as vindication of Gandhi’s right to campaign speech, while BJP figures may argue the case should never have been necessary if leaders avoided personal attacks. Either way, the order is a concrete legal win on a day when both parties are trading accusations about election integrity and the tone of public debate.

Court staff in Sultanpur will file the written judgment in the coming days; Gandhi’s lawyers said they would seek certified copies to circulate to other benches where related matters remain pending.