The Surat Sessions court on Monday granted bail to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after he filed an appeal against the court ruling convicting him in a defamation case over his 2019 remark about the surname Modi.
The court also issued a notice to complainant Purnesh Modi, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA and former Gujarat cabinet minister, over the application for suspension of the conviction.
Gandhi (52), who was disqualified from the Lok Sabha after he was handed two-year jail term last month, was present in Additional Sessions Judge RP Mogera's court which granted him bail till the disposal of his appeal on a bond of Rs 15,000.
It set April 13 for hearing the plea seeking the suspension of conviction and subsequent sentence.
"Gandhi's appeal against conviction was admitted by the sessions court. He also moved applications for bail and suspension of the conviction. The court granted him bail till the disposal of his appeal," his lawyer Kirit Panwala said.
Minutes after the hearing on Monday, Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi, "This is a fight against 'Mitrkaal' to save democracy. In this struggle, truth is my weapon, and truth is my support!" Gandhi has been taking the 'Mitrakaal' jibe at the central government, accusing it of working to benefit its "crony capitalist friends".
In another tweet, the Congress leader vowed to fight for the "voice of India". He wrote, "I am fighting for the voice of India. I am ready to pay any cost."
The four-time Lok Sabha MP, who reached Surat in the afternoon via a scheduled commercial flight along with sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, filed an appeal in the sessions court challenging his conviction in the case last month by a magistrate's court in the city.
He filed two additional applications along with the main plea -- the first for the suspension of sentence or for regular bail, and the second for the suspension of conviction.
The court allowed his first plea and granted him bail.
On his plea for the suspension of conviction, the court issued a notice to complainant Purnesh Modi and kept the matter for hearing on April 13, the lawyer said.
BJP legislator Modi will have to file his response to the plea by April 10, Panwala said, adding the Gujarat government has also been made a respondent and issued a notice by the sessions court.
Gandhi also requested the court for exemption from personal appearance during the hearing and his prayer was allowed by the judge.
In a show of support for the former Congress president, party Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other leaders were present in the courtroom when the matter came up for hearing at around 3 pm.
Gandhi reached the court in a luxury bus accompanied by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other senior leaders, while a large number of party workers and supporters gathered outside the premises amid heavy police deployment.
The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate H H Varma in Surat had on March 23 convicted Gandhi and sentenced him to two years in jail in a 2019 criminal defamation case filed against him over his "Modi surname" remarks.
The 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?" 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 during the Lok Sabha elections campaign.
The court had held the Congress leader guilty under Indian Penal Code sections 499 and 500.
It had also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to appeal in a higher court.
The former Congress chief was on March 24 disqualified from the Lok Sabha following his conviction.
Following his disqualification, 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.
BJP MLA Modi was a cabinet minister in the first Bhupendra Patel government which assumed office in September 2021.
The ruling party legislator was re-elected from the Surat West Assembly seat in the December 2022 elections.
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(With online desk inputs)