Rahul Defamation Case: Plea Challenging Conviction Ready To Be Moved

NEW DELHI: The Congress is ready to file a petition challenging leader Rahul Gandhi's conviction and sentencing by a trial court in Surat in a defamation case, sources said on Wednesday.

The party leaders said AICC's top legal advisors have been working on the review petition and it will be filed before the Surat sessions court in a day or two.

Rahul Gandhi was convicted and handed a two-year sentence in the 2019 defamation case over his remarks at a poll rally in Kerala on the Modi surname. Following the conviction, he was disqualified as a MP of the Lok Sabha. Gandhi is an MP from Kerala’s Wayanad constituency.

The grand old party of India has said that it will fight the matter both politically and legally, while taking the issue to the public.

Congress Whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore said the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi was deliberately done by the government in a well-planned conspiracy to not allow him to attend Parliament during this budget session. Gandhi had created scenes in the Lok Sabha over the Adani issue and the BJP government seemed to have no answers.

"This is a totally false case and his disqualification has come to keep him away from Parliament. But, we will fight it both legally and politically," Tagore told reporters outside Parliament.

In the meanwhile, the Election Commission of India said it was not in a hurry to announce bye-election to Wayanad constituency as the trail court has given Gandhi one month to appeal against the court order.

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, while announcing bye- elections on Wednesday, said at a press conference "There is no hurry, we will wait. There is no hurry to do it before exhausting that particular remedy which the trial court had accorded. We will take a call after that.”

The CEC said the vacancy in the Wayanad parliamentary party was notified on March 23 this year and as per the law, a by-poll has to be conducted within six months.

Kumar also cited the law, which states that if the remainder of the term was less than one year, then the election will not be held. In the case of Wayanad, however, the remainder of the term is more than a year, the CEC added.

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