Court sentences Rahul to 2 yrs in jail; grants bail, suspends sentence

A court in Surat in Gujarat on Thursday sentenced Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to two years in jail in a 2019 criminal defamation case filed against him over his Modi surname remarks.

The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Varma, which held Gandhi guilty under Indian Penal Code sections 499 and 500, also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court, the Congress leader's lawyer Babu Mangukiya said.

Gandhi was present in the court when the verdict was pronounced.

The case was filed against Gandhi for his alleged how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname? remarks on a complaint lodged by BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi.

The Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad made the remarks while addressing a rally at Kolar in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Gandhi has now quoted Mahatma Gandhi in a tweet about truth and non-violence after he was found guilty.

"My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God, non-violence the means to get it. -- Mahatma Gandhi,'' the Congress leader said in a tweet in Hindi soon after the court verdict.