Modi Surname case explained: Why Surat court sentenced Rahul Gandhi to 2 years in jail?

Surat: A Surat court has found Congress MP Rahul Gandhi guilty in a 2019 criminal defamation case, filed against him over his controversial "Modi surname" comment. He has been sentenced to two years in prison and was instantly granted bail.

Rahul Gandhi had reached the city yesterday and was received by senior party leaders, including Jagdish Thakor, legislature party leader Amit Chavda, senior leader Arjun Modhwadia, AICC in-charge of Gujarat Raghu Sharma at the Surat airport.

Former Gujarat minister and BJP MLA Purnesh Modi had lodged a complaint against the Congress stalwart in 2019. Gandhi, apparently taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had said 'how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname'.

Rahul Gandhi had made the remark at a rally in Karnataka's Kolar. He was campaigning for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The final arguments from both sides were heard last week and the date for the declaration of the verdict was set on March 23.

Senior Congress leader and MLA Ajun Modhwadia said last week that the truth was being put to test and harassed. He claimed the BJP foisted false cases against Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi, booked under sections 499 and 500 (defamation), last appeared before the Surat court in October 2021. He appeared to record his statement.

Purnesh Modi had alleged in his complaint that Gandhi defamed the entire Modi community with his remark. "How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname," he had allegedly said.

Modi was a minister in the Gujarat government when Bhupendra Patel was the chief minister of the state. Last December, he was re-elected from the Surat West Assembly constituency.

The final arguments resumed last month after the Gujarat High Court removed stay on proceedings as Modi was demanding Gandhi's personal appearance.

Modi's complainant had argued that CDs and pen drives containing recordings of his speech in Kolar established that he had made the defamatory remark.

Rahul Gandhi's lawyer had argued that the court's proceedings were flawed. He said the right procedure laid down under section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was not followed.

He had also argued that Purnesh Modi didn't have a locus standi in the case. He argued that it should have been Prime Minister Narendra Modi, not Purnesh Modi, to have filed the complaint as the speech was aimed against him.

Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Varma suspended his sentence for 30 days so that he could appeal against the verdict in a higher court. Rahul Gandhi was present in the courtroom when the verdict was announced.

Rahul Gandhi had centered his campaign around the Rafale deal. He claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government provided undue benefits to an Anil Ambani company that was part of the deal. He also coined the phrase 'Chowkidar Chor Hai', a jibe at PM Modi who once called him the chowkidar of the country.  

With inputs from PTI