On Monday, a Surat Sessions Court awarded bail to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case stemming from his 2019 remark about the surname Modi.
On April 13, the Court will hear the Congress leader’s petition for a stay of his judgement in the case that resulted in his exclusion from the Lok Sabha. Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Verma convicted the Congress leader on March 23, but the court halted his sentence for 30 days to enable him to appeal. Rahul Gandhi has submitted two applications: one for cessation of sentence, which is basically a regular bail application, and one for suspension of conviction.
In his appeal to the Sessions Court against his conviction, Rahul Gandhi stated that the order was “erroneous and patently perverse” and that he was sentenced in such a way that he would be disqualified as a Member of Parliament. The Congress leader also claimed that the trial Court was “overwhelmingly influenced” by his MP position, and that there is not such an entity as a certain Modi samaj or community on record.
Rahul was granted parole on a Rs 15,000 bond. The bail was granted until the appeal time ended. The lower court granted him 30 days to submit an appeal. The arguments, according to Rahul’s legal team, ran about five minutes. The Congress leader arrived at the sessions court in a luxury bus, accompanied by his sister, senior party leaders, and a squad of lawyers. Thousands of Congress employees have been arriving in Surat since last night, and they have been detained at the entry points.
The application was made under Section 389 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code for a stay of execution and the release of the appellant or accused on bail while the appeal was pending.
Written by Anagha Anuraj, 1st year law student pursuing BBA LLB from IIM Rohtak.
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