Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will file an appeal before a sessions court in Gujarat’s Surat on Monday against his conviction in a criminal defamation case, sources said.
Rahul Gandhi will be present in the court in Gujarat’s Surat on Monday as an appeal is filed against his conviction and sentencing in a criminal defamation case while party workers and leaders are reaching there.
The legal team has done all the preparation for the appeal, party sources said.
Rahul Gandhi on Sunday met his mother and former party president Sonia Gandhi ahead of his appearance in a Surat court to appeal against his conviction in a defamation case tomorrow.
Rahul met Sonia Gandhi at a hotel in the national capital for more than 1.5 hours. He was accompanied by his brother-in-law Robert Vadra.
Rahul Gandhi was convicted on March 23 in the defamation case for two years following which he was disqualified from the Lok Sabha.
Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a member of the Lower House on March 24, a day after his conviction by the Surat court in a defamation case for a remark using the ‘Modi surname’ at a rally in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday had said that a legal team was working on the case in which former Gandhi was convicted.
Kharge said that the party was ready to face the matter “politically and legally”, and also criticised the Central government for disqualifying Rahul Gandhi “in haste”.
The Congress president termed the disqualification as “vengeance”.
As a mark of protest against the disqualification of Gandhi from the Lok Sabha, and to press its demand for a probe into the allegations of fraud levelled against the Adani Group, the Congress launched the ‘Jai Bharat Satyagraha’ across the country against the Centre.
On March 23, a Surat district court in Gujarat had convicted Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case against him over his alleged ‘Modi surname’ remark in April 2019.
Gandhi was convicted under Sections 499 and 500 of IPC. The maximum possible punishment under this section is two years.
The Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Varma sentenced him to two years in jail and also imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 after finding him guilty.
However, on Rahul Gandhi’s plea, his sentence has been suspended and bail has been granted to enable him to move an appeal against his conviction within 30 days.
The lawyer representing Rahul Gandhi said that they will move to the sessions court soon.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi vacated his official bungalow in Tughlak Lane here this afternoon, sources said.
On March 27, the Congress leader was asked to vacate the bungalow since he has been disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha following his conviction in a criminal defamation case by a Surat court.
On March 28, Rahul Gandhi had written to the Lok Sabha Secretariat, saying he would abide by its order and vacate his Parliament allotted 12, Tughlak Lane bungalow by 22 April.
”Thank you for your letter of March 27, 2023, regarding the cancellation of my accommodation at 12, Tughlak Lane. Without prejudice to my rights, I will, of course, abide by the details contained in your letter,” he said in a letter addressed to Mohit Rajan, Deputy Secretary in the Lok Sabha Secretariat.
In the letter, Rahul also wrote that as an elected member of the Lower House for the last four terms, it was the mandate of the people to whom he owed the happy memories of the time he spent in that bungalow.
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