The case was filed against Gandhi for his alleged “how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?” remarks on a complaint lodged by BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi.
Acourt in Gujarat’s Surat held Congress leader Rahul Gandhi guilty on Thursday in the 2019 criminal defamation case filed against him over his “Modi surname” remarks. The court has also announced a 2-year jail term as quantum of punishment. He has, however, received bail for appeal at a higher court, which has to be done in 30 days.
As a result of this order, Rahul Gandhi might lose his membership as an MP and Wayanad may witness a by-poll.
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A huge number of party functionaries assembled at various spots in the city as a show of strength and support for Gandhi as he arrived in Surat, with posters extolling him as ‘Sher-e-Hindustan’ (lion of Hindustan) and placards declaring that the “Congress will not bow before the dictatorship of the BJP” on display.
The case was filed against Gandhi for his alleged “how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?” remarks on a complaint lodged by BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi.
Rahul Gandhi, Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad, made the alleged remarks while addressing a rally at Kolar in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Varma had last week concluded hearing final arguments from both sides and set March 23 to pronounce its judgment in the four-year-old defamation case, Gandhi’s lawyer Kirit Panwala had said.
“Truth is put to test and is harassed, but truth alone prevails. Several false cases have been filed against Gandhi, but he will emerge from all these. We will get justice,” said senior Congress leader and MLA Arjun Modhwadia on Thursday.
Rahul 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.
