AHMEDABAD: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will file an appeal in the Surat sessions court on Monday against his conviction in a criminal defamation case. The plea is likely to come up for hearing on Monday, when the former Congress president will also be present in the court.
On March 23, the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate H H Varma convicted Gandhi and sentenced him to two years in jail in a 2019 criminal defamation case filed against him over his remarks on Modi surname. It had held 52-year-old guilty under Indian Penal Code sections 499 and 500. The court had also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to enable him to appeal in a higher court. On March 24, Rahul was disqualified from the Lok Sabha.
According to sources, the 168-page Surat court judgment has been translated by experts, and the petition is ready for filing. Rahul Gandhi will arrive at the sessions court to submit the appeal at 3 pm, his attorney Kirit Panwala said. He will be accompanied by a team of expert lawyers and Congress leaders.
The defamation suit against Rahul Gandhi was filed by Purnesh Modi, a BJP MLA and former minister in Gujarat, for his comment: “How come all thieves have the common Modi surname?” which he had made while campaigning for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka.
According to the Congress, he was targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for having the same surname as fugitive businessman Nirav Modi and former IPL chief Lalit Modi. Reacting to the news, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said: “This is a welcome step. Though delayed, the Congress has shown faith in the judicial system.”