Surat court grants bail to Rahul Gandhi in defamation case, next hearing on April 13

Surat (Gujarat) [India], April 3 : A Surat Sessions Court on Monday granted bail to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who had filed an appeal following his conviction in a criminal defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark during a political campaign in April 2019.
The court in Gujarat's Surat granted bail till the disposal of the appeal to Rahul Gandhi in the defamation case.
The court of Additional Sessions Judge R P Mogera said it will hear his plea for suspension of Rahul Gandhi's conviction on April 13 and issued notice to Purnesh Modi, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA, the complainant in the case.
The application was filed under section 389(1) of Criminal Procedure Code for suspension of the execution of sentence and for releasing of appellant or accused on bail during the pendency of the appeal.
The court allowed the application, saying, "Pendency of appeal, the sentence imposed upon applicant accused on March 23 by Chief Judicial Magistrate Surat here by suspended and appellant shall remain on bail."
The Surat District and Sessions Court granted bail to Gandhi against a surety of Rs 15,000. The court will hear Rahul's application seeking suspension of conviction on April 13.
Rahul Gandhi appeared in the court today and filed an appeal against his March 23 conviction.
"Appeal was filed today and Court granted him (Rahul Gandhi) fresh bail on Rs 15,000. Now, the further hearing of the matter would be on April 13. Complainant has to file his reply by April 10. That is all the procedure that was adapted today. The further hearing would be held on April 13..," said Gaurav Pandya, a member of Congress legal team.
The former MP from Wayanad was convicted and sentenced to two years in hail by the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate H H Varma on March 23 in the criminal defamation case over his 'Modi surname' remark made during a political campaign in Kolar in Karnataka in April 2019.
The court sentenced him to two-years imprisonment but suspended the jail term for 30 days.
After the Surat court's verdict, Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as MP from Lok Sabha.
Senior leaders including chief ministers of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh Surat to accompany Rahul Gandhi to the Gujarat court. Rahul Gandhi's sister and party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accompanied him to the court.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra held a press conference earlier today and lashed out at Rahul Gandhi.
He alleged that the Congress leader was going with his family and some chief ministers "with pomp and show" to "repeat and add to the insult" of the OBC community.
"Rahul Gandhi, his family members, CMs Ashok Gehlot & Bhupesh Baghel are going to Surat & will be creating mayhem in the name of appealing (against the two-year sentence) verdict. What's the need for this ruckus?" Patra asked.
"Rahul Gandhi, is it not true that you used a casteist remark against the OBC community? You called them a thief and abused them. You are going to Surat with your family and some chief ministers with pomp and show. Do you want to pressurise the judiciary? Appealing is a democratic right. You are going to augment the insult that you have thrown at the OBC community by going and staging this kind of protest in Surat. Are you trying to pressurise the Indian judiciary through these gimmicks of yours?" Patra said.
The BJP leader alleged that Rahul Gandhi was not ready to apologise to the lower court for his remark.
"The lower court had given him (Rahul Gandhi) the opportunity to apologise, but he denied stating that he is Rahul and will not apologise. Rahul and responsibility never go together. Why is this arrogance? The Supreme Court had pulled him up for his remarks over Narendra Modi. He wasn't ready to apologise in Supreme Court, but the court made him apologise in written in the form of affidavit," Patra said.
Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju alleged that the Congress party is doing drama to "threaten the judiciary". "They (Congress) are doing a drama to threaten the judiciary. I condemn it. If a court has convicted somebody, then the drama is basically about pressuring. Congress party considers a family above the country..." told reporters outside Parliament today.
Rijiju also posted a tweet saying, "Rahul Gandhi might be going to Surat to file an appeal. It is not required of a convict to go personally to file an appeal. Generally, no convict goes personally. His going personally with a motley group of leaders and aides accompanying him is only a drama."
The Union Minister said, "What Rahul Gandhi is doing is also a childish attempt to bring pressure on the appellate court. All courts in the country are immune from such tactics."
Union Minister Anurag Thakur also hit out at the Congress. "India won't tolerate the insult of backwards...Earlier, PV Narasimha Rao, P Chidambaram, DK Shivakumar went to jail too, how many Congress people went with them? Is one family bigger than the country?," Thakur asked.
However, the Congress leaders said that they are accompanying Rahul Gandhi to show solidarity with him.
Chhattisgarh chief minister and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel questioned the BJP's logic. "I am going with my leader (Rahul Gandhi), how can this be pressure on the judiciary? They (BJP) are creating a ruckus in West Bengal and Bihar. Till now no appeal has come from PM Modi and Amit Shah...," Baghel told reporters.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, "We will not debate the court's decision but will fight against injustice. It is not a show of strength. He is our leader. Everyone goes to stand by a leader. The family members go along when there is even a normal case. This is a party and we are fighting for the country. We will reach there. It is the decision of the whole party, he has not called us."
Himachal Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu rubbished "drama" allegations levelled by the BJP.
"No one can pressurise judiciary. We are going to Surat. Congress is the main opposition party and Rahul Gandhi is big leader of our party. This is not a political drama. We stand by him...," Sukhu said.