Rahul Gandhi sentenced to 2 years in jail in defamation case for 'Modi surname' remark, granted bail to appeal
The Surat District Court sentenced Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to two years in jail in a 2019 criminal defamation case filed against him for his alleged “Modi surname” remarks. Moments later, the court granted him bail, and stayed its order for a period of 30 days so the Congress leader can appeal in a higher court.
Soon after the verdict, Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter, where he quoted Mahatma Gandhi. “My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God, non-violence the means to get it,” he wrote.
The case was filed against Gandhi on a complaint lodged by BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi for remarks he had made at a Lok Sabha election rally in Karnataka’s Kolar on April 13, 2019. Reacting to the news, the former Gujarat minister said he “welcomed” the judgment.“Why all the thieves, be it Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi or Narendra Modi, have Modi in their names,” the Congress leader had allegedly said during the rally.
Reacting to the court order outside Parliament on Thursday, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said the verdict was along expected lines. “He has been granted bail. We knew from the beginning because they kept changing judges. We believe in law, judiciary and we will fight against this as per law,” he said.
Meanwhile, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said the Congress was “suffering” because of Gandhi’s “attitude”. “Whatever Rahul Gandhi says always affects Congress party and the entire nation in a negative way,” he told news agency ANI.
On Friday, Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Verma heard the final arguments in the defamation case.
Gandhi’s counsel Kirit Panwala made the final arguments before the court. “We will today send a message to Rahul Gandhi to remain present on March 23 in the surat district court. Most probably, he would be present in the court. We will get confirmation on Saturday,” said Panwala.
Gandhi had last appeared before the Surat court in the case, filed under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 499 and 500 (dealing with defamation), in October 2021 to record his statement.