Surat Session court grants bail to Ex MP Rahul Gandhi in defamation case; next hearing on April 13

Rahul Gandhi was given the maximum 2-year jail term for his offence, but the sentence was suspended for 30 days for him to file an appeal against the order

PGurus Newsdesk

April 3, 2023

Rahul Gandhi was given the maximum 2-year jail term for his offence, but the sentence was suspended for 30 days for him to file an appeal against the order

Rahul Gandhi granted bail till April 13 by the Surat court

Surat Session court has granted bail extension to ex-MP and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was sentenced to two years in prison in a criminal defamation case. The court will hear his appeal against conviction in the case on April 13.

On Monday, the Surat Sessions court granted bail (till disposal of his appeal) to Rahul Gandhi in the defamation case over his remark “why all thieves share the Modi surname” equating Prime Minister Narendra Modi with fugitives like Lalit Modi and Nirav Modi. The remarks were made during a political campaign in Karnataka’s Kolar in April 2019.

Earlier, the former president of Congress, arrived in Surat to file the appeal in sessions court against a lower court’s order that found him guilty of criminal defamation.

The appeal has been accompanied by two applications, the first being application for Suspension of Sentence, which is essentially an application for regular bail, and the second being, an application for Suspension of Conviction.

The court accepted Gandhi’s petition and scheduled it for a hearing on April 13. However, he also faces another deadline to vacate his official residence in New Delhi, which was allotted to him as an MP, by April 22.

On March 23, a lower court in Surat found him guilty of defaming the entire Modi community in a case filed by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi. The former Congress president was subsequently disqualified from the Lok Sabha under a rule that bars convicted MPs from holding Lok Sabha membership.

Gandhi was given the maximum 2-year jail term for his offence, but the sentence was suspended for 30 days for him to file an appeal against the order. If the conviction is not overturned, he will be disqualified from contesting elections for the next eight years.

[With Inputs from IANS]

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