India’s Rahul Gandhi appeals against defamation verdict
The Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has appealed against his conviction for defamation, seeking to overturn a judgment that resulted in his expulsion from parliament a year before a general election is due.
Gandhi, 52, was convicted last month in a case brought by a state lawmaker from Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) after comments Gandhi made in a 2019 speech were deemed to be insulting to the prime minister and other people surnamed Modi.
The first hearing will be on 13 April, Hiral Panwala, a member of Gandhi’s legal team, told Reuters.
“In this struggle, truth is my weapon, and truth is my support,” Gandhi tweeted after he left the crowded court complex in Surat city in the western state of Gujarat on Monday, waving to supporters and Congress party members who had gathered in large numbers.
Gandhi was accompanied by his younger sister, Priyanka Vadra, en route from the airport to the court in a bus with large windows through which Gandhi waved at supporters.
Gandhi’s conviction hinged on a comment he made while campaigning before the last general election, when he referred to two fugitive executives, both surnamed Modi, and asked: “How come all thieves have the name Modi?”
Modi and his BJP swept back to power in that election. Gandhi’s Congress party recorded its worst performance ever, winning 52 seats in the 542-member lower house of parliament.
A magistrate’s court in Surat last month ruled that Gandhi had defamed everyone with the surname Modi, but his lawyer said Gandhi had been referring to the prime minister and the two executives while talking about accusations of high-level corruption.
“The 2019 speech was not aimed at defaming millions of people having the surname Modi,” Panwala told Reuters.
Gandhi will not have to attend the 13 April hearing.
Two more defamation cases have been filed elsewhere against Gandhi for the same comment and he is due to appear in court for one of them in the eastern city of Patna on 12 April.
Gandhi is at the centre of opposition politics and the main target of Modi’s BJP even though Gandhi’s Congress party is a shadow of its former self and the BJP looks set to dominate the next general election.
Opposition politicians say his trial and his disqualification from parliament are the latest example of the government’s strong-arm tactics, after various investigations and legal troubles faced recently by some opposition members.
BJP leaders reject that and say Gandhi’s case represents the Congress party’s arrogance and its readiness to hurt sections of society to settle political scores with the prime minister.