Congress leaders condemn jail for Rahul Gandhi by Surat Court

Telangana: Telangana Congress leaders condemned the two-year jail sentence of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by the Surat court on Thursday.

A court in Surat sentenced Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to two years in jail in a 2019 criminal defamation case against him over his "Modi surname" remarks.

The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate H H Varma, which held Gandhi guilty under Indian Penal Code sections 499 and 500, also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court, the Congress leader's lawyer Babu Mangukiya said.

Gandhi was present in the court when the verdict was pronounced.

The case was filed against Gandhi for his alleged "how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?" remarks on a complaint lodged by BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi.

The Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad made the remarks while addressing a rally at Kolar in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Revanth Reddy, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president, said that we do not fear such actions of political parties. He says, "In the country, there is Bharatiya Janata Party filing defamation cases, and in the state, Bharat Rashtra Samiti is keeping leaders under house arrest. The CM of Telangana is on a visit to Khammam and Mahbubabad districts to assess crop damage, and the leaders of those districts are also under house arrest. These acts will not stop the opposition leaders. We will fight and win."

Dr Mallu Ravi, senior vice-president of TPCC, says, "It is surprising and shocking to know the conviction for a routine political comment by Rahul Gandhi in Surat court. We will fight for justice in superior courts. Rahul Gandhi will surely come out of this conviction."

Inputs from PTI