New Delhi, Oct. 26 -- Congress cheered and welcomed the acquittal of the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, in a 2018 defamation case.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Shubham Verma of a Special MP/MLA Court in Sultanpur dismissed the 2018 criminal defamation lawsuit against Gandhi, ruling that his controversial remarks made during the 2018 Karnataka Assembly campaign were not defamatory in nature.

The phrase "murder accused" cited during the 2018 campaign exchange pertained to the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case in Gujarat.

While Union Home Minister Amit Shah was initially named as an accused in the case, a Special CBI Court in Mumbai completely discharged him of all charges in December 2014.

The complain...