Rahul Gandhi, the head of the Congress, is due to appeal his conviction in a criminal defamation case involving his statement about the “Modi surname” before a sessions court in Surat, Gujarat, on Monday. Rahul Gandhi will be present before the sessions court to deliver his argument in opposition to the ruling of the metropolitan court that sentenced him to two years in prison.
At approximately 3 p.m., Rahul Gandhi will arrive at the sessions court in Surat to submit an appeal, according to his attorney Kirit Panwala.
When Gandhi lands in Surat on Monday afternoon, senior Congress leaders will also be there, according to party sources.
CONVICTION OF RAHUL GANDHI IN THE “MODI SURNAME” CASE
In a 2019 criminal defamation lawsuit brought against him for his “Modi surname” statements, Gandhi was found guilty and given a two-year prison term by the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Varma in this city on March 23.
According to sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Criminal Code (IPC), it has found 52-year-old Gandhi guilty.
He was also given bail by the court, and the punishment was postponed for 30 days so he could file an appeal with a higher court.
As the court announced the decision in the case, Gandhi was there.
THE DISQUALIFICATION OF RAHUL GANDHI FROM LOK SABHA
According to the Representation of the People Act of 1951, the two-year term made him ineligible to serve in parliament.
According to the RP Act, any MP or MLA convicted of a crime and given a term of at least two years in jail would be ineligible starting from the day of their conviction.
Gandhi would be unable to run for office for eight years after his disqualification unless a higher court overturned his conviction and punishment.
A CASE OF Defamation Against Rahul Gandhi
Purnesh Modi, a BJP Legislator and former minister in Gujarat, filed a complaint against Gandhi alleging that the Congressman had said, “How come all criminals have Modi as the common surname?”
On April 13, 2019, Gandhi, a former MP from Wayanad in Kerala, made the comments while speaking at a rally in Kolar, Karnataka, as part of the Lok Sabha election campaign.
Prior to the Gujarat Assembly elections conducted in December 2022, he ran a campaign for the Congress, which ended up winning only 17 of the state’s 182 seats—its poorest electoral showing since the state was created in 1960.
Purnesh Modi, a BJP Legislator, said in his complaint that Gandhi insulted the whole Modi community when he spoke at the election rally in 2019.
Purnesh Modi served as a minister during the first term of the Bhupendra Patel administration, asking, “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?”
At the elections conducted in December of last year, the member from the governing party was re-elected to the Surat West Assembly seat.
