It has been recently reported that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been held guilty by the Surat District Court in the 2019 criminal defamation case on Thursday. The court has sentenced Rahul Gandhi two years of imprisonment. However, he was later granted bail and his sentence was suspended for 30 days to let him appeal for the decision.
What Is the 2019 Modi Surname Defamation Case?
In 2019, Rahul Gandhi was in Karnataka’s Kolar at a rally during the Lok Sabha elections where he made a statement, “How come all thieves have the common surname Modi?" He made this remark targeting PM Modi over his surname which is common with the fugitive businessmen Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi.
On hearing this statement, BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi filed a case against Rahul Gandhi in which alleged that Mr. Gandhi has defamed the entire Modi community while addressing the poll rally in 2019. Rahul Gandhi last appeared before the Surat court in the case in October 2021 to record his statement as the case was filed under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 499 and 500 (dealing with defamation).
Rahul Gandhi’s lawyer, Kirit Panvala said that last week the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Varma concluded hearing final arguments from both sides and finalised the date March 23 to pronounce its judgement in the four-year-old defamation case.
Senior Congress leader and MLA Arjun Modhwadia on Thursday said that, “Truth is put to test and is harassed, but truth alone prevails. Several false cases have been filed against Gandhi, but he will emerge from all these. We will get justice.”
After the verdict was announced, Rahul Gandhi took to his twitter and shared a post which mentioned a quote by Mahatma Gandhi.
Arvind Kejrival also tweeted in support of Rahul Gandhi after the sentence.
Rahul has put himself in a lot of trouble because of one statement and as a result he might lose his membership as an MP.