Rahul Gandhi’s bail extended in defamation case; next hearing on April 13
In his plea, Gandhi had asked the court to set aside the magistrate order convicting him in the defamation case
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was on Monday granted bail extension by the Surat sessions court and his next date of hearing has been fixed for April 13.
Surat court has also asked respondents to file a reply by April 10 in the case.
The development comes in wake of the 2019 criminal defamation case where he was disqualified from Lok Sabha after being sentenced to two years in prison.
In his plea, Gandhi had asked the court to set aside the magistrate order convicting him in the defamation case.
He also sought for an interim stay on the conviction till the matter was disposed off.
The Gujarat Congress released a statement on the developments that took place in the court.
“Rahul Gandhi has been granted bail by a Surat court in a defamation case. The next hearing will be held on April 13 and further hearing will take place on May 3. A hearing could not be held today as the complainant and his lawyer were not present in the court. A large number of Congress party workers, leaders and office bearers from all over Gujarat and other states were present in support of Rahul Gandhi in order to save democracy and oppose the dictatorial approach of this ruling government,” according to a statement by Gujarat Congress.
Earlier in the day, union law minister Kiren Rijiju hit out at Gandhi as the Congress leader had arrived in Surat along with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and party veterans.
Rijiju said that Rahul Gandhi had secured an exemption from appearing in the court when the hearing was on and was now “taking a procession…when personal appearance is not needed.”
On March 23, the Surat court convicted Gandhi in a criminal defamation case against him over his “Modi surname” remark.
Also Read: Rahul Gandhi refusing to apologise, trying to put pressure on judiciary: BJP
Gandhi was granted bail and his sentence was suspended for 30 days allowing him to appeal the decision.
However, he was soon suspended by the Lok Sabha secretariat.
The election commission (EC) is also awaiting the 30-day period given by court to Gandhi for it to take a call on the now-vacant Wayanad constituency.
On March 17, the court of chief judicial magistrate HH Varma, concluded hearing final arguments and set March 23 as the date to pronounce the verdict.
Days after his disqualification, Gandhi was served a notice to vacate his official Delhi bungalow, as he was no longer entitled to it.
The case was filed against Gandhi based on a complaint lodged by BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi for his alleged remark, “How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?”.
The complainant had claimed that the controversial remark was made at a rally at Kolar in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections that has defamed the entire Modi community.
The guilty verdict and the disqualification from Parliament including eviction from official bunglow had triggered a political slugfest between the Congress and ruling BJP.
Significantly, several other opposition parties - including Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) and K Chandrashekhar Rao’s Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), united to support Gandhi.
Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party (SP) also backed Gandhi.
