A court in Surat today is likely to hear an appeal filed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi against his conviction and two-year- sentence in defamation case.
New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will file appeal in Surat court on Monday to challenge his conviction in a criminal defamation case over his “Modi surname” remarks. Rahul Gandhi’s lawyers said the matter is likely to be taken up for hearing by the sessions court in Surat today. He will seek suspension of his sentence by the sessions court.
Rahul Gandhi will land in Surat at around 2 pm, Congress sources were quoted as saying by news agency PTI. Senior Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, chief ministers of three Congress-ruled states – Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot , Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu -, other national and state party leaders are likely to accompany him to the court, sources said.
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The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate H H Varma on March 23 convicted Rahul Gandhi and sentenced him to two years in jail. It had held the Congress leader guilty under Indian Penal Code sections 499 and 500. The court had also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to appeal in a higher court.
The conviction triggered Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification as Lok Sabha member from the date of the verdict. Following his disqualification, Rahul Gandhi would not be able to contest elections for eight years unless a higher court stays his conviction and sentence.
The sentence of two years invited his disqualification from the membership of Parliament under provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. The RP Act holds that an MP or a member of legislative Assembly (MLA) convicted for any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years shall be disqualified from the date of conviction.
The defamation case against Rahul Gandhi
The defamation case was filed against Gandhi on a complaint by Bharatiya Janata Party MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi for the Congress leader’s alleged remarks “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?”
At a rally in Karnataka’s Kolar ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha Election, Rahul Gandhi said: “Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi…how come they all have Modi as common surname? How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?” Gandhi, who had served as an MP from Wayanad in Kerala, made the remarks while addressing a rally at Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019.
Following conviction, Rahul Gandhi was asked to vacate his Tughlaq Lane bungalow by April 22, assigned to him as an MP. The notice to Rahul Gandhi to vacate the 12, Tughlaq Lane bungalow was served by the Housing Committee of the Lok Sabha and follows the disqualification notice issued last week.
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Several Opposition parties including Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress, DMK, Samajwadi Party, JD(U), Bharat Rashtra Samithi, CPI(M), RJD, Nationalist Congress Party, CPI, IUML, MDMK, Kerala Congress, TMC, RSP, AAP, J-K NC and Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction) participated in ‘black protest’ called by Congress against Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification.
