Rahul Gandhi to appear before Ahmedabad court for calling Amit Shah 'murder accused'

Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who has been facing multiple defamation cases across the country, on Tuesday will appear before an Ahmedabad court in connection with a case filed by a BJP member alleging derogatory statements against Union Home Minister Amit Shah during an election rally in April. The Gandhi scion took a dig at Shah, citing a 14-year-old murder case against him, and also called his son Jay Shah a 'corrupt'.

In a veiled attack at Shah, in the run up of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the former Congress president said, "Murder accused BJP President Amit Shah....waah! kya shaan hai (Wow, what majesty)... Have you heard Jay Shah's name? He is a magician, he made Rs. 50,000 into Rs. 80 crore in 3 months".

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In 2005, Shah was named in a fake encounter case, where a gangster named Sohrabuddin Sheikh, was allegedly killed by the Gujarat police. Though Shah said to be one of the prime accused in the case, a court had discharged him in 2014, saying there was not enough evidence against him to merit a trial.

Gandhi, 49, was granted bail by a Patna court, in another defamation case, filed by BJP leader and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, days after a Mumbai court held that the Congress leader would face trial for alleged slander against the RSS. Gandhi was slapped with the defamation suit by Sushil Modi in April for his remark - "why all thieves have the surname Modi?" He will be appearing in a Surat court in a related defamation case filed by Gujarat lawmaker Purnesh Modi.

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Last week, the Congress leader also appeared in a Mumbai court, where he pleaded not guilty in a defamation case filed by an RSS worker over comments allegedly linking journalist Gauri Lankesh's killing with "BJP-RSS ideology". He was granted bail on surety of Rs 15,000.

The trial date has been set for September 22 and Rahul Gandhi has been granted exemption from subsequent appearances. His next court appearance is scheduled in Ahmedabad - on July 12 - in connection with a defamation case filed by the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank (ADCB).

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Gandhi and Congress national spokesperson Randeep Surjewala had alleged that the bank was involved in a scam to convert scrapped notes worth Rs 745.59 crores five days after the demonetisation announcement on November 8, 2016.