Explainer: Why Surat court convicted Rahul Gandhi?

The former Congres party president has been convicted by the court in Gujarat for his 2019 remark on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate HH 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.

Meanwhile, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said, “We knew from the beginning because they kept changing judges. We believe in law, judiciary and we will fight against this as per law”.

After the court’s order, Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God, non-violence the means to get it- Mahatma Gandhi”.

What did Rahul Gandhi say about PM Modi?

The case pertains to a comment passed by Rahul Gandhi in a pre-election rally at Karnataka’s Kolar.

Gandhi said, “How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?” he had allegedly remarked ahead of the Lok Sabha election”.

BJP MLA former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi registered a complaint against Gandhi. Purnesh said that Gandhi’s remark defamed the entire Modi community.

Purnesh had served as a minister during the first term of Bhupendra Patel’s government in Gujarat. he was re-elected from the Surat West assembly seat in the election held in December 2022.

Reacting to the judgment, the complainant, the Surat West MLA said he welcomed the court’s verdict.

On Thursday, A huge number of party functionaries had assembled at various spots in the city as a show of strength and support for Gandhi, with posters extolling him as ‘Sher-e-Hindustan’ (lion of Hindustan) and placards declaring that the “Congress will not bow before the dictatorship of the BJP” on display.