Gujarat, 23 March 2023 (GNP): Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition, was found guilty of defamation by an Indian court for a comment that suggested Narendra Modi, the nation’s prime minister, was a criminal.
Following a speech during the 2019 general election in which he mentioned the surname Modi and questioned how all thieves got the surname, a leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) filed a criminal defamation lawsuit against Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi’s remark was deemed to be defamatory by the court.
In accordance with IPC section 499 read with 500, the court declared him guilty. He was given a two-year prison term, according to Ketan Reshamwala, Purnesh Modi’s attorney.
Government officials said that the comment was also intended to belittle everyone with the surname Modi, which is connected to the lowest castes in India’s ancient caste system.
Ravi Shankar Prasad, a member of the ruling BJP, told reporters, “If you are going to insult the entire Modi surname, this is completely defamatory.”
“There was a proper hearing. He got an opportunity to present his side of things. The decision has been taken according to the due judicial process,” he added.
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Gandhi said in court that he made the remark to draw attention to corruption rather than to disparage any particular group of people.
After the court’s decision, he tweeted, echoing India’s most famous liberation warrior Mahatma Gandhi, “Truth is my god.”
The Prime Minister is not India!
In no way is the criticism of the PM or the Govt an 'attack on India'!
I will speak the truth, and fight for it, come what may. pic.twitter.com/2Mkg0BgpZD
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 20, 2023
BM Mangukiya, Gandhi’s lawyer, said his client did not intend to offend anyone.
Gandhi said his life’s mission is to expose corruption in the nation when the magistrate questioned him about it.
Gandhi, being a member of the lower house of parliament, might be immediately removed from the legislature following the conviction, according to federal government adviser Kanchan Gupta.
Any disqualification for Gandhi, a former president of the Congress, might hamper the party’s chances in the general election in 2024, where it is largely anticipated that the BJP would win a third consecutive term.
