NEW DELHI: An Indian court on Thursday convicted opposition leader Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case over his remarks on the ‘Modi’ surname.
Rahul, a Congress party lawmaker, during an election rally in southern Karnataka state in 2019 is alleged to have wondered how come “all thieves have Modi as the common surname”.
The court in Surat city in the state of Gujarat found the lawmaker guilty and sentenced him to two years in prison.
However, it suspended the jail sentence for 30 days to allow Rahul to appeal against his conviction, India media reports said.
A complaint was made against the opposition leader by Purnesh Modi, a former Gujarat minister and lawmaker of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying he defamed the entire Modi community. – BERNAMA
