Rahul Gandhi, the Congress chief, has been handed a two-year prison sentence by a Surat court for defaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 2019 election campaign. Although the verdict is regarded as a major setback for Gandhi and Congress, the court has suspended the sentence, allowing an appeal to be filed in the High Court within 30 days. BJP MLA Poornesh Modi filed the criminal defamation case against Gandhi for comments he made during a speech in Karnataka’s Kolar region. Rahul Gandhi had also tweeted a Mahatma Gandhi quote following the verdict. Opposition parties have remained largely silent, while the BJP’s defense minister, Rajnath Singh, remarked that public speakers must be extremely cautious of their words. Congress has said it will fight the decision according to law.
New Delhi: A Surat court has sentenced Rahul Gandhi to 2 years in prison in a case of defaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name during the 2019 election campaign. The court suspended the verdict saying that an appeal can be filed in the High Court within 30 days and granted bail to Rahul Gandhi.
Case Background: The verdict, which is seen as a major setback for Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and the party, was filed four years ago. During the campaign for the last parliamentary elections, i.e. 2019, Rahul Gandhi, speaking in Karnataka’s Kolar region, asked, “How come Modi is a common family name for all thieves?” had spoken.
Surat’s BJP MLA Poornesh Modi had filed a criminal defamation case in a court there, alleging that Rahul Gandhi had insulted the entire Modi community with his speech. He had pursued the case in April ahead of the 2019 parliamentary elections. He appeared in the Surat court last year in 2021 in this defamation case prosecuted under Section 499, 500 of the Indian Penal Code. Rahul Gandhi had arrived in Surat early in the morning while the judgment was to be delivered on Thursday.
Justice HH Verma, who had finished hearing arguments from both sides in the four-year-old case last week, adjourned the verdict today (March 23). In this situation, the Surat court sentenced Rahul Gandhi to 2 years imprisonment in the morning.
Details of Judgment: > Even after the accused was warned and advised by the Supreme Court, there was no change in his conduct.
> The accused is a Member of Parliament. That way he can affect the majority of people. So the act of crime in this case is seen as very big.
> Giving him a lesser sentence would set a wrong precedent and send wrong messages to the society.
At this stage, he commented on the verdict on Twitter Rahul Gandhiquoted Mahatma Gandhi, “My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my religion and non-violence is the path to it.”
Commented on the verdict Priyanka Gandhi“All the scared government machinery is trying to suppress Rahul Gandhi’s voice by imposing punishment, discrimination etc. My brother will never be afraid. He lives by speaking the truth and will continue to speak only the truth. He will continue to be the voice of the people of this country. The power of truth is the power of the country. The love of crores of people is with him,” he said.
Opposition parties reaction: Most of the opposition parties remained silent on Rahul Gandhi’s conviction. Even some parties in the Congress alliance did not comment on the verdict.
He was the first person to pass this judgment when the Congress did not condemn its party ministers when they were jailed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwale condemned. He said, “There is a conspiracy to eliminate opposition parties and their leaders. There is a conspiracy to file cases against non-BJP leaders. I have differences with Rahul Gandhi. But it is not proper to implicate him in a defamation case. I respect the court, but I do not accept the verdict.”
Rashtriya Janata Dal President Tejaswi Yadav He said, “There is a big conspiracy going on through the enforcement department, CBI, income tax department to raid the opposition parties and file baseless cases in various cities to eliminate them. This is a big threat to the democracy, constitution and politics of this country.”
“This judgment clearly shows that freedom of speech is under threat,” DMK said DR Balu had informed.
Chief Minister of Jharkhand Hemant Soran, He said that the 2-year jail sentence awarded to Rahul Gandhi by the Surat court is a cause for concern for democracy and that non-BJP governments and leaders are becoming victims of conspiracies.
Ruling Party (BJP) reaction: Regarding the verdict given to Rahul Gandhi Defense Minister Rajnath Singh Said: Rahul Gandhi should understand by now that the injury caused by words is much deeper than the injury caused by the sword. He said that from this incident we should all know that we should be very cautious while speaking in public.
Met the press at BJP office in Delhi Former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad He slammed Rahul Gandhi’s quote on the verdict. He said, What did Rahul Gandhi say? He said he believed in truth and non-violence. So can he insult the people?, can he insult the country? If Rahul Gandhi has the right to insult anyone and speak disrespectfully then the victims of his speech have the right to sue for defamation in court.
Indian law provides that an individual, organization or organization aggrieved by defamatory comments or actions can seek redress through the courts. But Congress is against it. They say Rahul Gandhi has full freedom to insult others. It cannot be allowed, if there is a law in the country it will be implemented,” he said.
Congress reaction: Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge has said that the Congress will fight against this decision according to law. He said, “Rahul has been granted bail. We knew from the beginning that this would happen because they kept changing judges. We have faith in the law, in the judiciary. We will fight against this according to the law.”
People’s Justice Center President Kamal Haasan“I stand with you at this time. You have already gone through such unfair moments and trying times. Our judiciary is strong in correcting violations and delivering justice. We are confident that you will get justice in your ongoing appeal against the Surat court verdict. Satyameva Jayade.”
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin said, “The BJP’s tendency to target the opposition parties has now ended in trampling on democratic rights. Such crimes will end soon.” Read > Justice will prevail in the end: CM Stalin backs Rahul Gandhi