International Desk : Indian Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been sentenced to 2 years in jail in a criminal defamation case over his remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surname by a court in Gujarat's Surat.

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Rahul Gandhi at a rally in Karnataka's Kolar wondered how come "all thieves have Modi as the common surname". Rahul Gandhi was present at the court when the verdict was announced.

The Surat district court granted bail to Rahul and suspended for 30 days his two-year sentence.

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Rahul Gandhi was present in the court when the verdict was announced.

The case against the Congress leader was brought by former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi.

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The final arguments in the case resumes in February 2023 after the Gujarat high court vacated the interim stay it had imposed on the proceedings in March 2022 on the complainant's plea demanding the personal appearance of Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi's lawyer defended that the proceeding was flawed from the beginning as the legal procedure under Section 202 of the CrPC was not followed. Rahul Gandhi's lawyer also argued that Narendra Modi should have been the complainant in the case as Purnesh Modi was not the target of Rahul Gandhi's speech.

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The case against Rahul Gandhi was filed under Indian Penal Code Sections 499 and 500. Under Sections 499 and 500, a punishment with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both, are mentioned in the Indian Penal Code.

Sun News/MR

Indian leader Congress Rahul Gandhi defamation Narendra Modi Gujarat court

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