On Thursday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was convicted in a criminal defamation case for his alleged remark made during the 2019 Lok Sabha election and was given a 2-year prison sentence by a Surat court. The case was filed by Purnesh Modi, a minister in Gujarat, after Rahul Gandhi questioned why “all thieves have Modi as the common surname” at a gathering in Kolar, Karnataka.
During the court proceedings, Rahul Gandhi was present and was granted bail after posting a 10,000 bail bond. As he is a sitting member of parliament, he will not be immediately disqualified, and he has 30 days to appeal against the ruling.
The case had been put on hold by the Gujarat High Court in March 2022, but it was lifted in response to the complainant’s request for Rahul Gandhi to personally participate in the case. The final arguments in the case began in February 2023, and Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Criminal Code were used to prosecute Rahul Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi’s lawyer argued that the proceedings were defective from the start because Section 202 of the CrPC’s legal procedure was not followed. Additionally, his attorney contended that Narendra Modi should have filed the complaint because Purnesh Modi was not the intended audience for Rahul Gandhi’s speech.
Despite being convicted, Rahul Gandhi will not lose his parliamentary seat unless his appeal is rejected. The case has sparked controversy and debate about freedom of speech and political discourse in India.
