Rahul Gandhi: India’s Congress leader sentenced to jail for Modi ‘thieves’ remark

Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has been sentenced to two years in prison in a criminal defamation case.

A lawmaker was found guilty by a Gujarat state court for a 2019 comment about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surname at an election rally.

Gandhi, who appeared in court for the verdict, has been released on bail for 30 days and plans to appeal.

His party said he was targeted for exposing the government’s “dark acts”. The election is next year.

A spokesman for Congress said the ruling was riddled with “legally unsustainable conclusions” and vowed that the politicians would not remain silent.

Abhishek Manu Sinvi said at a press conference, “Definitely all your attempts to create a chilling, suppressing, strangling effect on open and fearless speech related to public influence. Neither Rahul Gandhi nor the Parliamentary Party can stop it.”

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said due judicial proceedings had taken place in the case, which dates back to the campaign before the last election.

Nilab Modi is a fugitive Indian diamond tycoon and Lalit Modi is a former chief of the Indian Premier League who has been permanently banned by the country’s cricket board. He claims it was done for emphasis and was not directed at any community.

Other opposition politicians and organizations deemed critical of the Indian government are also facing legal action.

The Aam Admi Party (AAP), which controls Delhi, currently has two senior party members in prison on politically motivated charges. The leader expressed support for Mr. Gandhi.

Arvind Kejwal tweeted: “I disagree with Congress, but it’s not right to involve Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case like this. ‘It’s the people’s and the opposition’s job to ask.’

The lawsuit against Rahul Gandhi was filed on the basis of a complaint by BJP lawmaker Purnesh Modi, who said his comments defamed the entire Modi community.

But some experts were baffled by the Surat court’s order. Legal scholar Gautam Bhatia said that “a reference to a general class of an individual” (in this case a surname) “is not viable unless the individual can give a direct reference to himself.” Tweeted.

“If a man says, ‘All lawyers are thieves,’ I cannot sue him for defamation unless I can prove, as a lawyer, that the accusation was directed against me,” Bhatia said. said Mr.

Gandhi’s lawyer, Kirit Panwala, told BBC Gujarati that their defense rested on four points: Third, there was no association with people with the last name Modi, and lastly, there was no malice in Gandhi’s speech. ”

Defamation laws in India are British-era laws and can carry a maximum sentence of two years in prison, a fine, or both. Free speech advocates have often argued that the law violates the principle of freedom and that politicians use it to silence their critics.

In 2016, several of India’s top politicians, including Gandhi, filed legal petitions to decriminalize defamation. However, the Supreme Court of India upheld the validity of the law, stating that “the right to free speech does not mean that citizens can slander others.”

Some have questioned Gandhi’s status as a member of parliament after his conviction.

Defamation itself is not grounds for disqualification in India. MPs may be disqualified from office for violations ranging from fomenting hostility to election-related fraud. However, he may also be disqualified if the offense is sentenced to more than two years in prison.

Two years in prison means Mr. Gandhi will be barred from running in the 2024 general election.

“What do they do [is] They will likely go to the Supreme Court and the verdict will stand,” said one political commentator who requested anonymity. There are lawsuits brought against the leader for all sorts of so-called crimes. Normally nothing happens. ”

Gandhi is a descendant of the Nehru Gandhi political dynasty that produced three prime ministers in India. His great-grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, was India’s first and longest-serving prime minister. His grandmother Indira Gandhi was the country’s first female prime minister and his father Rajiv Gandhi was India’s youngest prime minister.

Their political party, the Congress, ruled India almost continuously from independence in 1947 until a landslide brought Narendra Modi’s BJP to power in 2014, except for a few years. Since then, Congress has become a shadow of its former self and was routed again by the BJP in 2019.

Only once in India’s history has the largest opposition leader been imprisoned. In December 1978, Indira Gandhi (then no longer prime minister) was expelled from the House of Commons, and he was jailed for nine days for committing an infringement of privilege and contempt of parliament.

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