Rahul pleads not guilty in defamation case, gets bail

Ahmedabad : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was Friday granted bail by a court here after he pleaded not guilty in a criminal defamation suit filed by Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank, in which Union Home Minister Amit Shah is one of the directors, and its chairman Ajay Patel.

The defamation suit was filed by the bank against Gandhi after he alleged that it had swapped Rs 750 crore in scrapped currency with valid notes within five days of announcement of demonetisation on November 8, 2016.

Gandhi Friday appeared before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate N B Munshi and he pleaded not guilty for the charges levelled against him.

The court granted him bail on a personal bond and surety of Rs 15,000 each. It will next hear the case on September 7. The defamation suit was filed last year following a tweet by the Congress leader.

ADC Bank and Patel dragged Gandhi to court saying he had levelled "false and defamatory allegations".

The court on Friday granted bail to the Congress leader under section 436 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, though his lawyer B M Mangukiya argued that Gandhi did not need to file a bail application as it is not required when a summons is issued.