Rahul Gandhi: Court denies plea to stay libel conviction

A court in India's western state of Gujarat on Thursday rejected Congress party politician Rahul Gandhi's petition seeking a stay of conviction in a defamation case.   

The case revolved around comments Gandhi made in 2019, where he mocked the surname of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, referring to thieves as having the surname Modi.

A district court in March convicted Gandhi of defamation and sentenced him to two years in prison, although it immediately granted him bail, allowing Gandhi time to appeal at a higher court.

While Thursday's ruling was a setback for Gandhi, his jail sentence remained suspended until he exhausts all legal challenges.

"The Surat district court has not granted a stay on Rahul Gandhi's conviction," Naishadh Desai, a local Congress leader and lawyer, told reporters outside the court room.

"We are going to challenge the decision in Gujarat High Court tomorrow. We have full faith that the judiciary will uphold justice and save the democracy," he said.

Why was Gandhi ousted from parliament?

Shortly after his conviction, Gandhi was ousted from the country's parliament, delivering a major blow to his party ahead of the general election set for next year.

Thursday's court ruling means it's still not clear if the opposition politician can stand in the elections.

Under Indian law, lawmakers sentenced to jail terms of two years or more are barred from contesting elections for eight years or until a higher court stays or overturns their conviction and sentence.

Gandhi's legal team hopes to nullify the ban by either overturning the decision or reducing his sentence to under two years.

Senior Congress leader and Supreme Court lawyer Jairam Ramesh said the party would use every legal option to overturn Gandhi's conviction.

Opposition slams BJP

While Prime Minister Modi is still considered India's most popular politician, Gandhi boasts impressive political ties — he is the great-grandson of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the grandson of the nation's first female Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and son of another former prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi.

Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has repeatedly targeted the Gandhi family — which dominated Indian politics for decades after independence in 1947 — with allegations of corruption as part of its strategy to eliminate political threat from Congress.

Opponents of the BJP have slammed Gandhi's ouster from parliament, arguing that it shows the government is trying to crush opposition and dissent in the country.

sri/nm (AP, Reuters)