A Surat court convicted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday and sentenced him to two years of imprisonment in a 2019 defamation case that had been filed against him over his alleged derogatory remarks on the “Modi surname”.
However, Rahul Gandhi also got bail after the court pronounced the order after paying a bail bond of Rs 10,000. Moreover, as a sitting MP, he will not face immediate disqualification and will have 30 days to appeal against the order.
In the build-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha general elections, Rahul Gandhi had allegedly remarked, “how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?” during a public rally at Kolar in Karnataka.
Based on it, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi had lodged a complaint against the Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad, Rahul Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi appeared before the Surat court ahead of its verdict today. He had last appeared before the court in October 2021 to record his statement in the case against him filed under the IPC sections 499 and 500, which deal with defamation.
Before that, Rahul Gandhi had appeared in the court to plead not guilty to the charges leveled against him.
Following the court's verdict, Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to share a quote of Mahatma Gandhi in Hindi. It read, "My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God, non-violence the means to get it. - Mahatma Gandhi."
Speaking ahead of the court’s verdict, Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi had said, “Rahul Gandhi will remain present in the court when it pronounces its judgment in the criminal defamation case against him. He has made it clear that we respect the court whatever its judgment. We will welcome our leader and show him our support. The Congress cannot be browbeaten with cases like these.”
Meanwhile, BJP leader and Union law minister Kiren Rijiju said, “I'll see the details of the order before I say anything. Whatever Rahul Gandhi speaks it always affects Congress party and the entire nation in a negative way. Some Congress MPs told me that because of his attitude, Congress is suffering.”
