In a major legal relief for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, a special MP-MLA court in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, on Monday acquitted him in a 2018 criminal defamation case regarding remarks directed at then-BJP president Amit Shah. The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha was personally present in the courtroom when the verdict was pronounced. The case originated from comments made by Rahul Gandhi during a rally in Bengaluru prior to the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections. Following those statements, Vijay Mishra—a local BJP leader and former chairman of the District Cooperative Bank in Sultanpur—filed a criminal defamation complaint against Gandhi on August 4, 2018. Legal Timeline and Final VerdictRahul Gandhi had previously appeared before the Sultanpur court in 2023, where he was granted bail. The court had initially scheduled October 13 to pronounce its judgment, but the decision was subsequently deferred to October 26. Following the complete hearing on Monday, the court cleared the Congress MP of all charges. Convoy Collision on Purvanchal ExpresswayEn route to the court hearing in Sultanpur, a minor collision took place involving vehicles within Rahul Gandhi's convoy on the Purvanchal Expressway. According to a senior police official, the accident was minor, and no serious injuries were reported among any members of the convoy.