No poll code violation in Rahul Gandhi calling Amit Shah a murder accused: Election Commission

The Election Commission on Thursday gave clean chit to Rahul Gandhi, saying the Congress chief did not violate the Model Code of Conduct by calling BJP chief Amit Shah a "murder-accused".

Giving a clean chit to Gandhi, EC officials said the "complaint was examined in detail and after examination of the complete transcript of speech sent by the district electoral officer of Jabalpur, the Commission is of the considered view that no violation of the model code of conduct is made out."

Addressing an election rally in Madhya Pradesh last month, Rahul had said: "Murder accused BJP chief Amit Shah, wow, how majestic! Have you heard Jay Shah's name? He is a magician, he made Rs. 50,000 into Rs. 80 crore in 3 months."  

After Rahul's remarks, Shah had hit back at him, pointing out that he had been acquitted in the case, and questioned Congress president's "legal knowledge". 

"Let me tell you the gist of the order. I was slapped with a fake case and the court has already passed its order that it was a politically motivated allegation and was without any evidence. I don't want to make any comment on the legal knowledge of Rahul Gandhi," he said.

Shah was named in a case involving the alleged fake encounter of a gangster named Sohrabuddin Shaikh in 2005.

In 2015, a special court discharged Shah in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh and Tulsiram Prajapati encounter cases, holding that there existed no case against him and that he had been implicated for political reasons. 

A court in Ahmedabad had on Wednesday issued summons to Rahul in response to a criminal defamation suit filed by a BJP worker for calling Shah a "murder-accused".