My fight to save democracy will continue: What Rahul said after court relief

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said after getting his bail extended and a stay on the two-year jail sentence by the Surat sessions court on Monday (April 3) that his was a fight against “Mitrkaal” to save democracy. He added that truth was his weapon in the struggle.

Gandhi was convicted by a Surat lower court and sentenced to prison for two years in March for a speech in which he linked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s last name with two fugitive businessmen, remarking how all the “thieves” shared the same last name.

Minutes after the hearing in his appeal against the verdict in the defamation case on Monday, Gandhi tweeted in Hindi, “This is a fight against Mitrkaal to save democracy. In this struggle, truth is my weapon, and truth is my support!”

Gandhi has been taking the “Mitrkaal” jibe at the central government, accusing it of working to benefit its “crony capitalist friends”.

Bail and stay on sentence

A sessions court on Monday extended Gandhi’s bail and allowed a stay on the two-year prison sentence in the 2019 defamation case and will hear the matter on April 13, an official said.

The 52-year-old Congress leader reached Surat on Monday afternoon via a scheduled commercial flight along with sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and proceeded to the sessions court to file an appeal against the ruling of the lower court.

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The lower court had granted him bail for 30 days to appeal against the verdict. A day later, Gandhi was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha. The Opposition has been on protest mode in the Parliament since then.

(With agency inputs)