Rahul Gandhi defamation case: Surat court extends his bail till April 13

The hearing in the case challenging Congress leader Rahul Gandhis conviction in the 2019 defamation case will next be held on May 3 at the Surat District and Sessions Court which on Monday extended his bail till April 13Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today reached Surat where he filed an appeal seeking a stay on his conviction by a Surat magistrate court for the defamation case over his remark on the Modi surname The court had earlier given time of 30 days to the Congress leader to appeal its orderAfter the Surat courts verdict Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as MP from Lok SabhaCongress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and senior leaders including chief ministers of Rajasthan Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh reached Surat from their respective states had accompanied Gandhi to the Gujarat court Priyanka was seen with Rahul Gandhi aboard an IndiGo flight from DelhiThe former MP from Wayanad was convicted and sentenced to two years in hail by the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate H H Varma on March 23 in a defamation case over his Modi surname remark in 2019 in KarnatakaThe defamation case was filed against Gandhi by Bharatiya Janata Party BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi for saying How come all thieves have the common surname ModiThe Bharatiya Janata Party came down heavily on Rahul Gandhi for accompanying his family and party leaders to file an appeal in the appellate court in Surat against his conviction by a magistrate court in the 2019 criminal defamation caseBJP spokesperson held a press conference earlier today to lash out at Rahul Gandhi and alleged that the Congress leader is going with his family and some chief ministers with pomp and show to repeat and add to the insult of the OBC communityRahul Gandhi his family members CMs Ashok Gehlot amp Bhupesh Baghel are going to Surat amp will be creating mayhem in the name of appealing against the twoyear sentence verdict Whats the need for this ruckus Patra saidRahul Gandhi is it not true that you used a casteist remark against the OBC community You called them a thief and abused them You are going to Surat with your family and some chief ministers with pomp and show Do you want to pressurise the judiciary Appealing is a democratic right You are going to augment the insult that you have thrown to the OBC community by going and staging this kind of protest in Surat Are you trying to pressurise the Indian judiciary through these gimmicks of yours Patra saidFurther slamming Rahul Gandhi over his arrogance the BJP leader alleged that he was not ready to apologise to the lower court for his remarkThe lower court had given him Rahul Gandhi the opportunity to apologise but he denied stating that he is Rahul and will not apologise Rahul and responsibility never go together Why is this arrogance The Supreme Court had pulled him up for his remarks over Narendra Modi He wasnt ready to apologise in Supreme Court but the court made him apologise in written in the form of affidavit Patra saidAlso Read Rahul Gandhi will not bow down before PM Modi Shah Congress MP Adhir RanjanUnion Law Minister Kiren Rijiju alleged that the Congress party is doing drama to threaten the judiciary They Congress are doing a drama to threaten the judiciary I condemn it If a court has convicted somebody then the drama is basically about pressuring Congress party considers a family above the country told reporters outside Parliament todayRijiju also posted a tweet saying Rahul Gandhi might be going to Surat to file an appeal It is not required of a convict to go personally to file an appeal Generally no convict goes personally His going personally with a motley group of leaders and aides accompanying him is only a dramaThe Union Minister said What Rahul Gandhi is doing is also a childish attempt to bring pressure on the appellate court All courts in the country are immune from such tacticsUnion Minister Anurag Thakur also hit out at the Congress India wont tolerate the insult of backwardsEarlier PV Narasimha Rao P Chidambaram DK Shivakumar went to jail too how many Congress people went with them Is one family bigger than the country Thakur askedHowever the Congress leaders said that they are accompanying Rahul Gandhi to show solidarity with himChhattisgarh chief minister and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel questioned the BJPs logic I am going with my leader Rahul Gandhi how can this be pressure on the judiciary They BJP are creating a ruckus in West Bengal and Bihar Till now no appeal has come from PM Modi and Amit Shah Baghel told reportersCongress president Mallikarjun Kharge said We will not debate the courts decision but will fight against injustice It is not a show of strength He is our leader Everyone goes to stand by a leader The family members go along when there is even a normal case This is a party and we are fighting for the country We will reach there It is the decision of the whole party he has not called usHimachal chief minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu who is also accompanying Rahul rubbished the allegation of drama levelled by the BJPNo one can pressurise judiciary We are going to Surat Congress is the main opposition party and Rahul Gandhi is big leader of our party This is not a political drama We stand by him Sukhu saidMeanwhile there was heavy security deployed in Surat where Congress party workers gathered outside District and Sessions Court in support of their party leader Given the presence of Rahul Gandhi in Surat district court the Surat city police have deployed the police force wherever there is a possibility of movement We will also be starting frisking and checking Sagar Bagmar DCP Zone4 Surat told ANIThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute 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