A lower court in India sentenced opposition leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday to two years in prison for defamation in a 2019 speech in which he referred to thieves as “Modi”, the last name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Any arrest for Gandhi or his disqualification from parliament would deal a blow to his party in Congress ahead of the 2024 general election, which Narendra Modi’s party is expected to win.
In his speech ahead of the last general election of 2019, Gandhi referred to the prime minister and two fugitive Indian businessmen, all with the nickname Modi, as he spoke of alleged high-level corruption in the country.
The sentence was handed down by a magistrate’s court in the city of Surat, located in Modi’s home state of Gujarat. The case was brought by a Gujarat lawmaker from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Gandhi, the 52-year-old scion of the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, was present at the Surat court, which granted him immediate bail and suspended his sentence for a month.
“The accused Rahul Gandhi is found guilty and sentenced to two years simple imprisonment,” said Harish Varma, Surat’s chief judicial magistrate.
Ketan Reshamwala, a supporter of the plaintiff Purnesh Modi, said the court had found Gandhi’s comment to be defamatory.
A federal government adviser, Kanchan Gupta, said Gandhi could face immediate disqualification from parliament upon conviction, as per an order from the country’s highest court in 2013.
“Therefore, although reports appear to indicate that Mr. Gandhi was suspended by the sentencing court, he would have to quickly obtain a stay of conviction from an appeals court to save himself from disqualification,” said lawyer Vikram Hegde.
Gandhi, a former president of Congress who is now an influential MP, told the court that his comment was not against any community.
Members of Congress rallied behind Gandhi, with many state units planning protests later in the day and on Friday.
“The Modi government is a victim of political bankruptcy,” Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said on Twitter. “We’re going to appeal to the Superior Court.”
Gandhi also received support from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which governs Delhi and two of its top leaders are in prison on what they call trumped-up charges.
“A conspiracy is being launched to eliminate leaders and parties not belonging to the Aam Aadmi Party by prosecuting them,” AAP chief and Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal wrote on Twitter.
“We have disagreements with Congress, but it is not right to implicate Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case like this. It is the job of the public and the opposition to ask questions. We respect the court, but we disagree with the decision.”
Gandhi’s once-dominant Congress controls less than 10% of elected seats in the lower house of parliament and has lost heavily to the BJP in the last two general elections.
Modi remains India’s most popular politician by a substantial margin and opinion polls have shown he is expected to win a third victory in next year’s election.
Unlike in many countries, where defamation is a civil offence, Indian law also has provisions that classify it as a criminal offense punishable by a prison sentence of up to two years.
Source: CNN Brasil
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