Indian opposition leader staves off prison term
An Indian court has agreed to grant a stay of a two-year prison sentence to opposition figure Rahul Gandhi, as he seeks to appeal his conviction. He was previously found guilty of defamation of people who share the surname with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and expelled from the nation’s parliament.
Gandhi is a scion of the family behind the dynastic Congress Party, which was once a dominant power in India, but is currently the opposition. On Monday, he arrived at a district court in the city of Surat in the western state of Gujarat to file legal motions against last month’s conviction. He was accompanied by his sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and other key supporters.
Additional Sessions Judge R P Mogera agreed to extend Gandhi’s bail until April 13, when the politician’s lawyers will be able to present their case to suspend his sentence. On May 3, the court will hear his appeal of the conviction.
The suspension, if granted, may have an effect on Gandhi’s status as a lawmaker. He was disqualified from sitting in the Indian parliament last month, a day after he lost his defamation case and was sentenced to prison on March 23.
Gandhi cheered the development on Twitter, saying he is fighting “to save democracy” and that truth is his weapon.
The veteran politician got into legal trouble over a 2019 election speech in which he attacked the prime minister by linking him to two men – a fugitive diamond tycoon and a cricket executive banned from the Indian Premier League – who both also happen to have the surname Modi. “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?” he wondered at the time.
The criminal defamation case was filed by a leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Purnesh Modi, in his home city of Surat. Gandhi was given the highest possible punishment under the charge to show the seriousness of the violation coming from a lawmaker, according to the judge in his case.
Gandhi will not be allowed to stand in India’s parliamentary elections, which are due next year, unless his conviction is suspended or overturned.
