India, Feb. 21 -- Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Friday told the special MP-MLA court in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, that the 2018 defamation case against him was lodged due to "political malice" and to destroy his and the Congress's image.

The case pertains to Gandhi's alleged derogatory remarks made against Union home minister Amit Shah during a press conference in Karnataka during the 2018 assembly polls. Shah was then the Bharatiya Janata Party national president.

Appearing before the court of special judge Shubham Verma, Gandhi denied all allegations levelled against him, his advocate Kashi Prasad Shukla told news agency PTI. "The allegations are baseless and unfounded. I have never used derogatory words agai...