BREAKING: No Relief For Rahul Gandhi; Surat Sessions Court rejects Plea in Criminal Defamation Case

A Surat sessions court dismissed an appeal by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for a stay on his conviction in a criminal defamation case.

This means Rahul Gandhi cannot be reinstated as Member of Parliament.

Rahul Gandhi had requested that his conviction be paused pending his appeal against a court order sentencing him to two years in jail in the case.

Gandhi was convicted last month in a case brought by a state lawmaker from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after comments the Congress party leader made in a 2019 speech were deemed to be insulting to the prime minister and other people surnamed Modi.

The Congress leader was disqualified as an MP a day after a metropolitan magistrate court in Surat sentenced him to two years in jail in the case filed by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi.