New Delhi: Senior counsel and additional solicitor general (ASG) of India, Suryaprakash V. Raju, has sought permission from the law ministry to allow him to appear for his client, in his personal capacity, in a defamation case against former Congress president Rahul Gandhi. The matter is said to come up for hearing before an Ahmedabad magistrate court on October 17.

According to the Indian Express report, the law ministry’s nod is expected in a week. The particular defamation plaint refers to a charge made by Ahmedabad's Khadia ward corporator Krishnavadan Brahmbhatt of the BJP. The corporator had accused Gandhi of defaming current Union home minister and the then BJP chief Amit Shah by calling him “murder accused” in a rally in Jabalpur in the run-up to 2019 general elections.

Also read: Court Rejects Pleas by Rahul Gandhi, Sitaram Yechury Seeking Dismissal of Defamation Case

Raju, who was appointed as ASG in June this year, has been appearing for Brahmbhatt from May 2019, when the case was first filed.

As the decision of the law ministry is pending, the matter has now been adjourned to October 17. In another development, it may be recalled that the Supreme Court had directed all courts in the country to expedite hearing into the pending cases against incumbent and former MPs and MLAs by hearing such cases on a daily basis. Following this direction, Gujarat high court too sent out directives to trial courts to speed up proceedings into cases in which politicians are accused.

According to Brahmbhatt, Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi on April 23, 2019 in an election rally in Jabalpur had allegedly said, “Murder accused, BJP chief Amit Shah, wah, kya shaan hai."

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