India court rejects Rahul Gandhi’s plea for stay on conviction

NEW DELHI : A court in India’s western state of Gujarat has rejected Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s petition seeking a stay of conviction in a defamation case, increasing uncertainty over whether he will be able to contest an election due next year.

Gandhi was convicted last month in a case brought by a state legislator from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after comments the Congress party leader made in a speech were deemed to be insulting to the prime minister and other people surnamed Modi.

The district court in Surat city had sentenced Gandhi to two years in prison for his 2019 remarks referring to two fugitive Indian businessmen, both surnamed Modi.

In an election rally that year, the 52-year-old leader had asked: “How come all thieves have the name Modi?”

Naishadh Desai, a Congress leader and lawyer, told reporters the Surat court has not granted a stay on Gandhi’s conviction.

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

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

Gandhi, 52, lost his parliament seat in March after being convicted and sentenced to two years in jail for the Modi comments.

The law that governs elections in India mandates disqualification of any politician who is “convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years”.

courtesy : (Al Jazeera)