Highlights: Rahul Gandhi, 53, appeared before a court in the state of Uttar Pradesh (north) for having alluded to the legal troubles of Interior Minister Amit Shah. The case dates back to 2018. Mr. Shah was accused of ordering police to carry out the extrajudicial killing in 2005 of a gangster and two others. He was briefly imprisoned before being acquitted of murder, extortion and kidnapping charges in 2014, after the landslide election victory of Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

This Tuesday, February 20, the main leader of the Indian opposition Rahul Gandhi obtained his release on bail in a defamation case brought against him by the Minister of the Interior, a…

India: opponent Rahul Gandhi released on bail

This Tuesday, February 20, the main leader of the Indian opposition Rahul Gandhi obtained his release on bail in a defamation case brought against him by the Minister of the Interior, announced his lawyer Santosh Pandey.

This Tuesday, February 20, the main leader of the Indian opposition Rahul Gandhi (our photo) obtained his release on bail in a defamation case. AP - Channi Anand

By: RFI Follow

Rahul Gandhi, 53, the main leader of the

Indian

opposition , appeared before a court in the state of Uttar Pradesh (north) for having alluded to the legal troubles of Interior Minister Amit Shah, great confidant of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and calling him “

accused of murder

”. The case dates back to 2018. A complaint was immediately filed by an official of the ruling party.

Ten other complaints

Mr. Shah was accused of ordering police to carry out the extrajudicial killing in 2005 of a gangster and two others while he was interior minister in the state of Gujarat. He was briefly imprisoned before being acquitted of murder, extortion and kidnapping charges in 2014, after the landslide election victory of Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Rahul Gandhi faces at least ten other defamation claims and was briefly barred from sitting in Parliament last year after being convicted of defamation in another case.

The opposition accuses the Indian government of using the justice system to target its political rivals, with several opposition figures currently under investigation. Rahul Gandhi is a descendant of India's first political dynasty. He is the son of Rajiv (and Sonia) Gandhi, grandson of Indira Gandhi and great-grandson of independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru, all former Prime Ministers. He is one of the leading figures in an opposition alliance seeking to challenge Narendra Modi in general elections scheduled for April 2024.

Two lost elections

His Congress party was once the dominant force in Indian politics, but Mr. Gandhi, seen as out of touch with the concerns of ordinary Indians, lost two elections to Mr. Modi and his Hindu nationalist party. Last year he was convicted of defamation and sentenced to a two-year prison sentence that was suspended by a higher court but raised concerns about the decline of democracy in the world's most populous country. world. Last week, his party said authorities had frozen his bank accounts after a tax audit and are demanding 2.1 billion rupees ($25.3 million) from him. Other financial controls have been carried out targeting several opposition leaders, and are still ongoing.

Read alsoIndia: accounts of main opposition party frozen shortly before elections are called

India: opponent Rahul Gandhi released on bail

India: opponent Rahul Gandhi released on bail

Ten other complaints

Two lost elections

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