Explained: The 2019 defamation case in which India's Rahul Gandhi has been sentenced to 2 years in prison

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi was sentenced to two years in prison by a court in Gujarat’s Surat today (23 March) in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his remarks about the “Modi surname”. However, the court granted him bail immediately and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal the decision. Gandhi’s conviction has evoked reactions across the political spectrum, with Congress and other Opposition parties attacking the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). What is the defamation case and what have the reactions to the verdict been? What does the conviction mean for Rahul Gandhi? Let’s take a closer look. The 2019 defamation case BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi had filed a case against Rahul Gandhi over his statement about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surname during a rally in Karnataka’s Kolar ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad had allegedly said: “Why all the thieves, be it Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi or Narendra Modi, have Modi in their names”. Purnesh Modi was a minister in the first tenure of the Bhupendra Patel government and is currently an MLA from the Surat West Assembly. As per a PTI report, Gandhi had last appeared before the Surat court in connection with the case in October 2021 to record his statement. [caption id=“attachment_12340232” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Rahul Gandhi has been convicted in a 2019 defamation case over remarks on ‘Modi surname’. AP File Photo[/caption] In March 2022, the Gujarat High Court had stayed the proceedings in the case after the complainant sought a stay citing lack of sufficient evidence. The stay was lifted in February this year after Purnesh Modi told the High Court that there was sufficient evidence such as CDs and pen drives that had come on record of the trial court. The Congress leader ’s lawyer had said previously that the court proceedings were “flawed” alleging that the procedure laid down under section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was not followed. The lawyer also argued that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have been the complainant in the case as he was the one targeted in Gandhi’s speech, as per Indian Express. Gandhi’s lawyer Kirit Panwala had said earlier that the court had heard the final arguments from both sides last week and the judgement was set to be pronounced on 23 March. As per Gandhi’s lawyer, Babu Mangukiya, while announcing the verdict, the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Varma found Gandhi guilty under sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), reported NDTV. Defamation cases Defamation deals with actions, words or gestures that can cause damage to a person’s reputation. In India, defamation can be tried as a civil or criminal offence. Section 499 of the IPC defines what entails criminal defamation. It says: “Whoever, by words either spoken or intended to be read, or by signs or by visible representations, makes or publishes any imputation concerning any person intending to harm, or knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm, the reputation of such person, is said, except in the cases hereinafter expected, to defame that person.”

Under the British-era criminal defamation law, a person can be sentenced to a maximum of two years in jail or be fined or both.

Reactions to the verdict Congress has slammed the BJP government over the ruling, saying the saffron party is shaken up as Gandhi and the Opposition is “exposing their dark deeds”. Gandhi will file an appeal and “we will fight and win”, the Congress party said in a tweet. In his first post after the judgement, Rahul Gandhi quoted Mahatma Gandhi and wrote on Twitter: “My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God, and non-violence is the means to get it.” Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said in a tweet in Hindi that the “whole machinery of scared power” was trying to suppress the voice of the Wayanad MP by any means possible. “My brother has never been afraid, nor will he ever be. Have lived speaking the truth, and will continue to speak the truth. Will continue to raise the voice of the people of the country,” she wrote.

डरी हुई सत्ता की पूरी मशीनरी साम, दाम, दंड, भेद लगाकर @RahulGandhi जी की आवाज को दबाने की कोशिश कर रही है।

मेरे भाई न कभी डरे हैं, न कभी डरेंगे। सच बोलते हुए जिये हैं, सच बोलते रहेंगे। देश के लोगों की आवाज उठाते रहेंगे।

सच्चाई की ताकत व करोड़ों देशवासियों का प्यार उनके साथ है।

— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) March 23, 2023

Rahul Gandhi also found rare support from AAP leader and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal who accused the BJP of trying to “eliminate non-BJP leaders and parties by prosecuting them”. “A conspiracy is being hatched to eliminate non-BJP leaders and parties by prosecuting them. We have differences with Congress, but it is not right to implicate Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case like this. It is the job of the public and the opposition to ask questions. We respect the court but disagree with the decision,” the AAP chief tweeted in Hindi.

ग़ैर बीजेपी नेताओं और पार्टियों पर मुक़दमे करके उन्हें ख़त्म करने की साज़िश हो रही है

हमारे कांग्रेस से मतभेद हैं मगर राहुल गांधी जी को इस तरह मानहानि मुक़दमे में फ़साना ठीक नहीं। जनता और विपक्ष का काम है सवाल पूछना। हम अदालत का सम्मान करते हैं पर इस निर्णय से असहमत हैं

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) March 23, 2023

More from India

India to host fifth Coast Guard Global Summit in Chennai in 2027 'New dawn': PM Modi meets Manipur violence victims in first visit since 2023 unrest

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), an ally of Congress in Maharashtra, targeted the saffron party, saying the law will catch up with the BJP “motormouths” who are slamming Gandhi. “BJP leaders are saying that Rahul Gandhi must learn a lesson from his conviction by Surat Court and choose his words before speaking. The same applies to motormouths of the BJP because our Judiciary is Supreme, and it will catch up with them too, sooner rather than later,” the NCP spokesperson Clyde Crasto tweeted. Gautam Bhatia, a legal scholar, expressed puzzlement at the conviction. “Defamation law 101 is that references to a generic class of persons are not actionable unless an individual can show a direct reference to *themselves.* It’s one of the first things you learn in defamation law class,” Bhatia said in a tweet. “If a man says ‘all lawyers are thieves’, then I, as a lawyer, cannot file case against him for defamation unless I can show its imputation aimed at me,” the legal scholar added.

The example in this judgment: https://t.co/d9EM2isPCE

If a man says “all lawyers are thieves”, I - a random lawyer - can’t file a case against him for defamation unless I can show it’a an imputation aimed at me.

— Gautam Bhatia (@gautambhatia88) March 23, 2023

Meanwhile, the BJP welcomed the judgement and lambasted Gandhi over the remarks. BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said at a press conference: “The law of India is that if an individual or an organisation has been defamed by defamatory comments, abuses, then he has got the right to seek address but Congress has an objection to it. They want complete freedom for Rahul Gandhi to utter abuses”.

#WATCH | The law of India is that if an individual or an organisation has been defamed by defamatory comments, abuses, then he has got the right to seek address but Congress has an objection to it. They want complete freedom for Rahul Gandhi to utter abuses: BJP's RS Prasad pic.twitter.com/wD1615gZ0W

— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2023

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

'New dawn': PM Modi meets Manipur violence victims in first visit since 2023 unrest

CP Radhakrishnan takes oath as Vice President of India

Speaking to ANI, Union minister Rajnath Singh said that Gandhi should “take a lesson” from the verdict.

#WATCH | "Congress MP Rahul Gandhi should take a lesson from this," says Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Rahul Gandhi being convicted by the Surat District Court for his 'Modi surname' remark pic.twitter.com/kYcy5bNkpm

— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2023

Welcoming the verdict, Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena said Gandhi should also be booked for “insulting national icons like VD Savarkar” and “defaming” the country abroad, reported PTI. What next for Rahul Gandhi? Gandhi is now facing a risk of disqualification from Parliament. According to Indian Express sources from the Speaker’s office, a decision on this would be taken after they receive the court’s order. “If a complaint with the order comes to the table, legal experts will examine and take a decision,” sources said. As per Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act of 1951, an MP can be disqualified if found guilty of any offence and sentenced to not less than two years in prison. Further, it adds that the disqualification takes effect only “after three months have elapsed” from the date of conviction. Gandhi will have to get a stay on his conviction and sentence from another court otherwise the disqualification process will begin after a month, noted Hindustan Times. If disqualified, the Lok Sabha Secretariat will declare Gandhi’s Wayanad constituency vacant. A special election will then be conducted for the seat. NDTV reported that if Gandhi’s conviction is not quashed by any higher court then he would not be able to contest elections for the next eight years. Notably, the Surat court verdict has come at a time when the BJP has already been making efforts to get Gandhi suspended from Parliament for allegedly insulting India and its democracy during his recent visit to the United Kingdom. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.