Rahul Gandhi files appeal against conviction in defamation case

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday filed an appeal in a Surat court seeking a stay on his conviction in a defamation case, reported Live Law.

Gandhi was sentenced to two years in prison on March 23 by Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Verma for his 2019 remarks about the Modi surname. Verma, however, had granted Gandhi bail and suspended his sentence for 30 days in order to allow him to appeal against the verdict.

A day after his conviction, Gandhi was disqualified as a Lok Sabha MP under the Representation of the People Act, 1951. According to Section 8(3) of the law, a legislator sentenced to jail for two years or more stands to be disqualified from the date of conviction till six years after serving time.

Gandhi’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha will be revoked if the court stays his conviction.

The Congress leader has been convicted under Sections 499 (defamation) and 500 (punishment for defamation) of the Indian Penal Code. The former Wayanad MP had allegedly made the remarks at a rally in Karnataka’s Kolar ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He was said to have asked: “Why all the thieves, be it Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi or Narendra Modi, have Modi in their names?”

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