New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi, accompanied by his legal team and a battery of senior leaders, will file an appeal against his sentence in a defamation case at a Surat court on Monday. “Rahulji will be here on Monday. We all have reached Surat in his support. The fight against injustice will go on,” Gujarat CLP leader Amit Chavda told ETV Bharat.
According to party insiders, the legal team is being led by Rajya Sabha member and senior Supreme Court advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who will file an appeal in the Sessions court to quash the trial court order of March 23, which had held him guilty and sentenced jail term of two years.
Earlier, Rahul had mentioned the names of fugitives Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi along with that of PM Modi to wonder “how was it possible that all the thieves had a common surname Modi” in a speech made during the 2019 Lok Sabha poll campaign in Karnataka’s Kolar district. The defamation case was then filed by former Surat MLA and ex-minister Purnesh Modi taking objection to Rahul Gandhi’s remarks. According to the BJP leader, Rahul had defamed the entire Modh or Modi community through his remarks.
The Surat trial court had given bail to Rahul for 30 days withholding the sentence. Rahul, who had pleaded not guilty, saying his remarks were only against a few individuals and not the entire community, is expected to cite a series of flaws in the case as his team is likely to argue a case of political vendetta.
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On Monday, the entire Gujarat Congress will stage a show of strength in support of Rahul Gandhi. A host of seniors from Delhi are also expected to reach Surat in his support. “Our leader is fighting the BJP nationally. He is being targeted for opposing the Centre. I have urged all the leaders and workers to reach Surat on April 3 in support of Rahul Gandhi,” Chavda said, adding, “The case has resulted from political vendetta. We are all with Rahulji. We will fight the BJP with him.”
The Congress has protested against the case and the subsequent disqualification of Rahul from the Lok Sabha as a deliberate targeting of the former party chief as he had been asking tough questions from the government and pressing for a JPC probe into the alleged Adani issue. The Congress insiders said they were hopeful of getting the Sessions court to quash the sentence but if that does not happen they would appeal in the high court and even in the Supreme Court if needed.
Singhvi has been stating over the past days that the case in the trial court had been fast-tracked recently after Purnesh Modi had appealed against a stay in the case in the high court saying that the case should resume as new evidence had emerged. Earlier, the same Purnesh had urged the high court for a stay in the said case. However, no new evidence had been submitted before the trial court, said Singhvi, adding that the case was fast-tracked after Rahul made a scathing attack on the PM in the Lok Sabha in February and questioned his links with Adani.
