A court in Surat in Gujarat on Thursday sentenced Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to two years in jail in a 2019 criminal defamation case filed against him over his “Modi surname” remarks.
The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Varma, which held Gandhi guilty under Sections 499 and 500 of the IPC, also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court, the Congress leader’s lawyer Babu Mangukiya said.
Gandhi was present in the court when the verdict was pronounced. 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.
The Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad made the remarks while addressing a rally at Kolar in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The Congress MP may faces immediate disqualification from the Lok Sabha and will remain disqualified until he manages to get the conviction stayed by a higher court.
This law stems from a July 2013 SC judgment which struck down a previous sub section in the Representation of People’s Act that gave convicted MPs and MLAs three months to challenge the conviction and deferred their disqualification in the interregnum.
The developments today led to a massive face off between the BJP and the Congress, with both sides blaming each other.
Moments after Rahul, quoting Mahatma Gandhi, tweeted, “My religion is based on truth and non violece. Truth is my God, and non violence the means to attain Him.” The BJP asked whether Gandhi’s religion means he will go around defaming people, defaming the country, its democracy and its martyrs.
