India’s Rahul Gandhi appeals against defamation verdict

The Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has lodged an appeal against his conviction for defamation, aiming to overturn a judgment that resulted in his expulsion from parliament a year before a general election is due.

Gandhi, 52, was found guilty of defamation last month in a case brought by a state politician from the prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) over comments Gandhi made in a 2019 speech that were deemed to be insulting to the prime minister and other people surnamed Modi.

Gandhi, the scion of a dynasty that has given India three prime ministers, was given a two-year jail sentence, suspended for 30 days to allow him to appeal. The appeal hearing will take place on 13 April.

Gandhi is at the centre of opposition politics and the main target of Modi’s BJP even though Gandhi’s Congress party is a shadow of its former self and the BJP looks likely to dominate the next general election, due by the middle of next year.

Opposition politicians say Gandhi’s trial and his disqualification from parliament is the latest example of the government’s strong-arm tactics, after various investigations and legal troubles faced recently by some opposition members.

BJP leaders reject that and say Gandhi’s case represents the Congress party’s arrogance and its readiness to hurt sections of society to settle political scores with the prime minister.

Gandhi’s conviction hinged on a comment he made while campaigning before the last general election, in which Modi swept back to power, when he referred to two fugitive businessmen, both surnamed Modi, and asked: “How come all thieves have the name Modi?”

His lawyer said Gandhi had been referring to Modi and the two businessmen while talking about accusations of high-level corruption, but the court ruled he had defamed everyone with that name.