Rahul Gandhi convicted for Modi surname remark, faces seven defamation cases across the country
Mar 23, 2023
New Delhi [India], March 23 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was convicted by a Surat court on Thursday in a defamation case for his four-year-old remark which allegedly hurt the sentiments of the Modi community.
The court, however, put a stay on the decision and allowed the Congress leader 30 days' time to appeal in the higher courts.
Gandhi got bail in the seventh case against him.
Here is a look at the (defamation) cases he is facing across the country.
1. 'Modi surname' remark:
Rahul Gandhi was sentenced to 2-year imprisonment in the defamation case on March 23, 2023, and was later granted bail on a surety of Rs 15,000. The court stayed the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in the higher courts.
The verdict relates to Rahul Gandhi's alleged remarks "how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname" made in April, 2019, at a Lok Sabha election rally at Kolar in Karnataka.
2. National Herald case:
Among the well-known cases against Rahul Gandhi is the National Herald case in which he and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi were granted bail in December 2015. The case was pursued by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy.
Rahul Gandhi had in June last year faced questioning by the Enforcement Directorate over alleged corruption in the National Herald case. Former party chief Sonia Gandhi had also been questioned in the case. The two leaders were granted bail in the case by a Delhi court in December 2015.
3. Defamation case in Patna:
Rahul Gandhi was granted bail by a Patna court in another defamation case on July 6, 2019. The case was filed by BJP leader and former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi for his "how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname" remark.
4. Defamation case in Ahmedabad:
The Congress leader was granted bail by a court in Ahmedabad in a defamation case on July 12, 2019. The case was filed by the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank following Gandhi's allegation that the bank was involved in a scam of swapping banknotes during the demonetisation.
5. Defamation case in Mumbai:
Gandhi was granted bail by a Mumbai court on July 4, 2019, in a case filed by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker for his alleged remark linking Gauri Lankesh's killing with the "BJP-RSS ideology". The court had granted Gandhi bail on a surety amount of Rs 15,000.
6. Maharashtra case:
Bhiwandi court in Maharashtra had granted Gandhi bail on November 2016 in a case filed by an RSS worker for allegedly accusing the organisation of killing MK Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi had allegedly said that RSS killed Gandhi. He had made these remarks during a Thane rally in March 2014.
He had backtracked his statement in the SC stating that he did not mean to accuse the whole of RSS of assassinating Gandhi.
7. Guwahati case:
Guwahati court had granted bail to Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case by RSS in September 2016.
The case was filed after Rahul had claimed that he was barred by the RSS from entering the Barpeta temple in Assam in December 2015.
