Rahul Gandhi, a Congress leader, has been granted bail by the Surat Sessions Court in a defamation case over his remark made during a political campaign in Karol in April 2019. “Why do all these thieves have Modi as their surname? Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi,” he said.

The next hearing for the case has been scheduled for May 3. Today, he moved an appeal in the Surat Sessions Court challenging his conviction. The appeal was accompanied by two applications, one for Suspension of Sentence, which is an application for regular bail, and the other for Suspension of Conviction.

If the second application is allowed, his membership of the Lok Sabha will be restored, subject to the issuance of notification by the LS Secretariat. On March 23, the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrates sentenced Gandhi to two years in jail, resulting in his disqualification as MP of Lok Sabha. However, his sentence was suspended, and he was granted bail to appeal against his conviction within 30 days.

A defamation case was brought against Indian politician Rahul Gandhi for his comments during an election rally in Karnataka state. He had said, “Why do all these thieves have Modi as their surname? Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi.” Purnesh Modi, a BJP lawmaker, alleged that this comment had defamed the entire Modi community. However, Rahul Gandhi claimed that his intention was to highlight corruption and it was not directed towards any particular community.

He was convicted and disqualified from parliament due to a Supreme Court order. The Congress party and other opposition parties held protests, and some alleged that he was being targeted by the BJP for his comments about Gautam Adani’s relationship with PM Modi’s government. They have also been demanding an investigation into allegations of financial fraud against the Adani group.