Indian Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi to Avoid Prison During Appeal – The Diplomat

An Indian court docket on Monday suspended a two-year jail sentence for Indian opposition chief Rahul Gandhi as he appeals his legal conviction for mocking the prime minister’s surname which resulted in his expulsion from Parliament, dealing an enormous blow to his Congress occasion forward of common elections subsequent yr.

Gandhi, a fierce critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his fundamental challenger within the 2024 polls, was ousted after a court docket sentenced him to 2 years in jail for defamation for a remark made in a 2019 election speech.

The prosecution of Gandhi, the great-grandson of India’s first prime minister and scion of the dynastic Congress occasion, was extensively condemned by opponents of Modi as the most recent assault towards democracy and free speech by a authorities looking for to crush dissent. The velocity of his elimination from Parliament shocked Indian politics.

Gandhi appeared in a court docket within the western state of Gujarat on Monday to file an attraction and was granted bail in the course of the attraction course of. He was granted bail for 30 days to file an attraction when he was convicted final month. The court docket set the subsequent listening to for April 13.

“On this wrestle, reality is my weapon and reality is my assist,” Gandhi tweeted after Monday’s listening to. He waved to supporters and Congress occasion members who gathered outdoors the court docket.

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A person who shares the prime minister’s surname, Modi, which is widespread in his house state of Gujarat, accused Gandhi of defamation over a 2019 speech during which he requested, “Why do all thieves have Modi as their surname?” Gandhi then referred to 3 well-known and unrelated Modis within the speech: a fugitive Indian diamond tycoon, a cricket govt banned from the Indian Premier League, and the prime minister. The petitioner who filed the case is a member of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Occasion (BJP) in Gujarat however just isn’t associated to the prime minister or the opposite two Modis talked about by Gandhi.

Gandhi was convicted on March 23 and expelled from Parliament the subsequent day, sparking opposition lawmakers to rally to his protection and name his expulsion a brand new low for India’s constitutional democracy.

Below Indian regulation, a legal conviction with a jail sentence of two years or extra is grounds for expulsion from Parliament. If Gandhi’s conviction just isn’t suspended or overturned by the next court docket, he might face jail and can probably not be capable of contest the nationwide elections in 2024.

Babu Mangukiya, a lawyer from Gandhi’s authorized group, stated he’ll stay disqualified from Parliament till a court docket suspends his conviction, the Press Belief of India information company reported.

Authorized specialists say Gandhi’s case is uncommon, particularly since defamation convictions stay uncommon.

“It’s one thing we virtually by no means see — to have a conviction in a defamation case and much more, a most sentence (of two years) for what seems to be an innocuous comment,” senior advocate Gopal Shankar Narayan stated, including that politicians are normally given extra leeway with regards to free speech. “In most civilized nations, defamation just isn’t legal — you possibly can sue for damages and get compensation, however it’s not a legal conviction.”

India, with almost 1.4 billion folks, is the world’s largest democracy. Modi’s critics say its democracy has been in retreat since he got here to energy in 2014. They accuse his authorities of pursuing a Hindu nationalist agenda. The federal government denies that, saying its insurance policies profit all Indians.

Gandhi’s household has produced three prime ministers. Two of them — his grandmother, Indira Gandhi, and father, Rajiv Gandhi — have been assassinated.

Although Gandhi is seen as the primary challenger to the Modi authorities, his Indian Nationwide Congress occasion has suffered humiliating defeats within the final two common elections. In a bid to woo voters, Gandhi has railed towards Modi and his BJP in latest months, accusing them of corruption and of tarnishing India’s democratic credentials.