Rahul attends Lok Sabha day after guilty verdict in defamation case

A day after he was convicted in a 2019 criminal defamation case by a Surat court, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attended Lok Sabha proceedings on Friday (March 24).

The House was however adjourned seconds after convening amid ruckus over various issues, and Rahul left Parliament soon after that.

Earlier, before the House proceedings began, Rahul attended a meeting of party MPs. Congress parliamentary party Chief Sonia Gandhi was also present in the meeting

Also read: Why is BJP solely focused on discrediting Rahul Gandhi?

The court in Gujarat sentenced Rahul to two years in jail in a case registered on a complaint filed by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi for his alleged remark, “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?”

The court of chief judicial magistrate HH Varma, which held 52-year-old Rahul guilty under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 499 and 500, also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court.

Gandhi can escape immediate disqualification as a member of parliament if the appellate court suspends the conviction as well as the two-year jail term.