Rahul Gandhi to appeal against conviction in Gujarat court
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will appear in a Gujarat court today to appeal against his conviction and two-year sentencing in a 2019 defamation case.
Rahul Gandhi is likely to move a plea in Surat’s sessions court to set aside the Magistrate order convicting him in the defamation case for a remark seen as an insult to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The former Congress president, sources say, will ask for an interim stay on the conviction which would also restore his Lok Sabha membership.
He will be represented in the court by senior advocate RS Cheema.
Gandhi, who was recently disqualified as a parliament MP after the Gujarat’s court order, is accompanied by his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and the Chief Ministers of three Congress-ruled states – Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
He met his mother Sonia Gandhi yesterday before his court appearance.
The BJP called Gandhi’s visit to Surat with his sister and some party leaders as “a childish attempt” to pressurise the judiciary.