Rahul Gandhi Gets 2 Year Jail For Insulting Modi Surname
Rahul Gandhi Defamation Case: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was today found guilty in a 2019 defamation case and sentenced to two years in jail.
A Gujarat court on Thursday 23 March 2023 sentenced Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to two years in prison. The news has gone viral but do you know how did the case began and how did it end up in court? Why he has been sentenced to jail? Well the case is about an incident that occured in 2019. In 2019, Rahul Gandhi was in Karnataka's Kolar district and was giving a speech. In his speech he attacked PM Modi who was running for a second term as PM at the time. Rahul Gandhi said, "Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi...How come all the thieves have Modi as a common surname?" A BJP MLA from Surat (West) Purnesh Modi, took offense and filed a complaint, accusing Rahul Gandhi of defaming the whole Modi community.
The case has been going on since 2019. During the past hearings, Gandhi told the court he knew what charges were leveled against him and pleaded not guilty. His lawyer Kirit Panwala had filed an application to excuse him from personal appearances in the future, which was objected to by Purnesh's lawyer Hasmukh Lalwala. However, Gandhi was subsequently exempted from an appearance on several occasions.
Gandhi had last appeared in the Surat court in October 2021 to record his statement. Gandhi's lawyer had said that the judicial processes were "flawed" and that the complainant in the case should have been PM Modi, not MLA Purnesh because the PM was the main target of Gandhi's statement. The hearing of both parties' closing arguments was completed last week, and the ruling was announced on 23rd March 2023. The Surat court said Rahul Gandhi is guilty of insulting the Modi community. The court in Gujarat's Surat, which convicted Mr Gandhi, also granted him bail for 30 days, allowing him to appeal the decision. Gandhi was punished under IPC sections 499 and 500. Rahul Gandhi was present in the Surat court when the sentence was pronounced. The Congress termed it as a tactic to silence the opposition. The court, however, granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal.
Now you all know Rahul Gandhi is a MP. As per the law, if a MP is found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment for two years or more, then the person will be disqualified from the house for the period of imprisonment and a further six years. However the law states that the MP will have the right to appeal. The disqualification will not be applicable until the appeal is decided. Rahul Ganhi does not accept the court’s decision and will file an appeal. Notably, another BJP leader and former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi had also filed a case in a Patna court for Gandhi's statements. He accused Gandhi of "insulting the Modi community." However, the judgment in this case is still pending. Separately, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is also attempting to corner Gandhi over his recent comments in the United Kingdom (UK) about the BJP government's alleged suppression of dissent.
