INDIA: On Thursday, Rahul Gandhi watched as the Surat court found him guilty of defamation in a case that dates back to 2019. Rahul Gandhi was convicted by a Gujarat court Thursday in the 2019 defamation case for his ‘all thieves have Modi as the common surname’ remark.
At a gathering in Kolar, Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi questioned why “all thieves have Modi as the common surname.” As the judgement was read aloud in court, Rahul Gandhi was there. As the court issued its judgement, the Wayanad MP was also granted bail after posting a ₹ 10,000 bail bond.
Purnesh Modi, a politician for the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is in power in India, filed the complaint against Gandhi because his remarks had disparaged the whole Modi community. Yet, some people have claimed that the arrangement is confusing.
People who support free speech have often said that the law goes against the basic principles of freedom and that politicians use it to scare off their opponents.A maximum two-year prison sentence, a fine, or both are possible under India’s criminal defamation law, which is a product of the British era.
In India, defamation cannot be a reason to disqualify someone on its own. A member of parliament may be removed from office for offences like inciting animosity and election fraud. Yet they may also lose their eligibility if they receive a sentence of two years or longer for a crime.
Rahul Gandhi’s attorney argued on behalf of his client that the hearing was faulty from the start since Section 202 of the CrPC’s legal procedure was not followed. Additionally, Purnesh Modi was not the target of Rahul Gandhi’s statement, hence, Narendra Modi should have been the one filing the complaint, according to Rahul Gandhi’s attorney.
Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Criminal Code were used to prosecute Rahul Gandhi. Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Criminal Code say that a simple prison sentence of up to two years, a fine, or both can be used as a punishment.
