Surat/Ahmedabad, 23 March (HS): Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has been sentenced to two years in prison by the Surat District Court after holding him guilty in a criminal defamation case filed against him for his 'Modi surname' statement.

At present, keeping the sentence suspended for 30 days, he has been given a chance to appeal. Along with this, bail has been given on a bond of ₹10,000.

On April 13, 2019, Rahul Gandhi made a controversial statement regarding the Modi surname at an election rally in Kolar near Bengaluru. He had said that why all the thieves have Modi as their surname. On this, Surat West MLA Purnesh Modi filed a defamation petition against Rahul. In this case, he has been convicted by the court under sections 490 and 500 of the IPC.

Rahul Gandhi reached Surat airport around 11 am. Here the party workers warmly welcomed him. Gujarat state in-charge of Congress Raghu Sharma, State President Jagdish Thakor, Leader of Opposition Amit Chavda and many other leaders reached Surat.

Talking to reporters, state in-charge Raghu Sharma termed the allegation levelled against Rahul Gandhi as baseless and said that truth wins.

He said that there are many such examples when justice has been found in the judgments of the Supreme Court and other courts. This is just the politics of trouble, which the BJP has started. He said that BJP leaders are doing such cases to divert attention from the main issues facing the country. Surat Congress leader Naishad Desai refused to comment on the court's remarks. He said he would appeal further.

BJP State President CR Patil said that Rahul Gandhi does not have control over himself. He had requested to defame the whole society. Surat West MLA Purnesh Modi, who filed the defamation petition, welcomed the verdict.

Hindusthan Samachar / Binod Pandey/Indrani Sarkar