Rahul Gandhi case Live Updates: Fighting against ‘Mitrkaal’ to save democracy, says Rahul after leaving Surat court

 

Rahul Gandhi case live updates, April 3: Soon after leaving a Surat sessions court after being granted bail in a defamation case, senior Congress leader  Rahul Gandhi said this is a fight against ‘Mitrkaal’ to save democracy and truth is his weapon in this struggle. A Surat court today granted bail to Gandhi and suspended his sentence till the disposal of his appeal seeking stay on his conviction in the criminal defamation case over his 2019 remark about thieves with the surname Modi. The court of Additional Sessions Judge R P Mogera said it will hear his plea for suspension of conviction on April 13.

The 52-year-old Congress leader has filed a criminal appeal challenging the conviction by a Surat magistrate court on March 23 that convicted him for two years simple imprisonment in the complaint filed by Surat West MLA Purnesh Modi. Gandhi, in his appeal, said that the defamation case was “erroneous” and he was sentenced in a manner so as to attract disqualification as a Member of Parliament. More than 300 supporters of Gandhi from different parts of Gujarat and Maharashtra, who had assembled in Surat or were on their way, were detained by the Gujarat police today.

On March 23, while convicting Gandhi, the court suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal and approved bail on a surety of Rs 15,000. A day later, Gandhi was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha. The Congress party is hopeful the court will stay his conviction, which will open the doors for revocation of his disqualification as an LS MP.