A district court in the western Indian state of Gujarat today convicted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and sentenced him to two years in jail in a criminal defamation case over his alleged "Modi surname" remark during the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign.
However, the Surat district court granted bail to Rahul and suspended for 30 days his two-year sentence.
At a rally in Karnataka's Kolar in 2019, Rahul had reportedly wondered how come "all thieves have Modi as the common surname".
Rahul Gandhi was present in the court when the verdict was announced.
The case against the Congress leader was brought by former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi.
Soon after the court ruling, Rahul Gandhi said in a Twitter post quoting Mahatma Gandhi, India's Father of the Nation, "My religion based on truth, non-violence; truth is my God, non-violence means to get it."
At the Surat court, when Rahul Gandhi was told that he was held guilty by the court in the defamation case of 2019, the Congress leader told the court that he has been raising voices for the people and whatever he said was not intentional," according to advocate Jignesh.
