Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday, April 25, filed an appeal in the Gujarat High Court, seeking a stay on his conviction by a magistrate's court in a criminal defamation case. The appeal will be heard by a single-judge bench in due course. On April 20, a sessions court in Surat dismissed Gandhi's plea for the suspension of his conviction.
The magistrate court accepted Modi's contention that Gandhi intentionally insulted people with the 'Modi' surname. The sessions judge refused to stay the conviction, leading to Gandhi's present plea before the High Court.
Rahul was convicted and sentenced to two years of imprisonment on March 23 for a statement he made about Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 while campaigning in Kolar district of Karnataka. He was charged with defamation based on a complaint by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Sushil Kumar Modi. He was later disqualified as Member of Parliament. Rahul Gandhi was granted bail on the same day by the Surat court that convicted him and was given 30 days to appeal to a higher court. Following the court order, opposition parties across the country came out in support of Rahul Gandhi and slammed the move saying that it was unconstitutional. The Congress also held a 24-hour country-wide protest.