Special 
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attended a hearing at the MP-MLA court on Friday concerning a defamation case filed against him. The court has scheduled the next hearing for August 12, during which the statement of the petitioner is set to be recorded.
Court sources indicated that Gandhi is not required to appear on that date. Abhishek Singh Rana, the Congress district president, confirmed Gandhi's presence in court.
The case stems from allegations that Gandhi made objectionable remarks about senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The defamation case was initiated by local BJP leader Vijay Mishra on August 4, 2018.
Mishra accused Gandhi of making derogatory statements during a press conference in Bengaluru.
During the press conference, Gandhi also criticised the BJP, asserting that the party claims to uphold honest and clean politics while having a party president who is under suspicion in a murder case, specifically referring to Shah, who was the BJP chief at that time, as reported by the Hindustan Times.
On February 20, the court granted bail to Gandhi in this matter. Special Magistrate Shubham Verma has since summoned him to provide his statement on July 26.
In June, a Bengaluru special court also granted Gandhi bail in a different defamation case initiated by the Karnataka BJP unit. This case centered around alleged defamatory advertisements that were published in mainstream newspapers.
The BJP's complaint contended that these ads in local newspapers and "false campaigning" by the Congress ahead of the 2023 Karnataka assembly elections tarnished the party's reputation.
In March of the previous year, Gandhi was disqualified as a Lok Sabha MP after his conviction in a 2019 defamation case related to his comments about the 'Modi' surname. Subsequently, the Supreme Court stayed his conviction, leading to the restoration of Rahul Gandhi’s position as a Member of Parliament.
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