Congress workers gather outside Surat court to show support to Rahul Gandhi in defamation case

Congress' former Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi will be in Gujarat's Surat to file an appeal in a sessions court against a lower court order that found him guilty of criminal defamation for his ‘all thieves have Modi surname’ remark. On March 24, barely twenty-four hours after a lower court in the city found Gandhi guilty of defaming the entire Modi community in a case filed by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi, the ex-Congress president was disqualified from Lok Sabha under a rule which bars convicted MPs from holding Lok Sabha membership.

Days later, he was also directed to vacate his official residence in New Delhi that was allotted to him as an MP, with the deadline to do so being April 22.Gandhi had made the ‘Modi surname’ remark in April 2019 in Karnataka's Kolar, while campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections. His target was PM Narendra Modi, whom he equated with fugitives like Lalit Modi and Nirav Modi. The Congress has accused the Modi government of targeting Gandhi because in recent days, the latter has been attacking the PM over his alleged links to embattled billionaire Gautam Adani; the ruling BJP, on the other hand, has said this is simply a case of law taking its own course.The former Congress MP was given the maximum 2-year jail term for his offence, but the sentence was suspended for thirty days for him to file an appeal against the order. Party workers protest outside the sessions court in Surat, where Gandhi will file an appeal against his conviction. Security has also been beefed up in the entire area.