Rahul Gandhi, the leader of India’s main opposition Congress party, was acquitted in a defamation case by a local court on Monday, TV channels said.
The acquittal comes at a time when Gandhi is leading a united opposition campaign against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Chief Election Commissioner over a controversial revision of voter lists.
Gandhi, 56, the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty and top leader of Congress, which has mostly ruled India since it gained independence from the British, was in court in the northern town of Sultanpur when the verdict was pronounced.
His supporters burst crackers, beat drums and waved party flags as he left the court after the acquittal, images on TV showed.
Gandhi was accused of calling India’s powerful Home Minister Amit Shah, who was then head of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a “murder accused”, during a state election campaign speech in 2018.
The case was filed in Sultanpur town of Uttar Pradesh state by a BJP member and the verdict was announced on Monday.
A court in Modi’s home state of Gujarat had convicted Gandhi in 2023 in a separate defamation case over a “Modi surname” remark, which briefly cost him his seat in parliament.