Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi is appealing the jail sentence

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By Webdesk


The Congress leader is appealing to the Surat court after serving a two-year prison sentence in a defamation case brought by a BJP lawmaker.

Indian opposition party leader Rahul Gandhi has appealed his two-year prison sentence in a defamation case brought against him by a legislator from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Gandhi, the 52-year-old scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family and leader of the Congress party, was found guilty of libel by a court in the western state of Gujarat over comments he made in a speech in 2019.

Gandhi has submitted a plea to the Surat session court, which will hear the plea later on Monday.

The Indian Parliament disqualified Gandhi after the sentencing, as the law governing elections in India mandates the disqualification of any legislator “convicted of an offense and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years”.

A lower court on March 23 sentenced Gandhi to two years in prison on libel charges.

Opposition politicians say Gandhi’s conviction and disqualification are the latest evidence of the Modi government’s strong tactics and follow investigations and legal troubles faced by other opposition parties in recent months.

Gandhi said on March 25 he would not comment on his sentence because the case was sub judice, but he said his disqualification from parliament was for asking Modi what he called “difficult questions” about his relationship with Gautam Adani, founder of the Adani conglomerate.

The opposition accuses the Modi government of doing undue favors to a business group led by billionaire magnate Adani.

Shares of companies from the Adani group plummeted after Hindenburg Research on Jan. 24 alleged that the Indian conglomerate engaged in stock manipulation and exploited tax havens. It also said the group had unsustainable debt.

A day after Gandhi’s sentencing, 14 political parties jointly petitioned the Supreme Court, saying opposition groups had been selectively targeted by federal investigative agencies. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the plea on Wednesday.





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