India opposition leader Rahul Gandhi to appeal against jail sentence
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Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has filed a plea in the Surat sessions court against the magistrate order.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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MUMBAI – Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi will appeal against a two-year jail sentence in a defamation case
Gandhi, the 52-year-old scion of the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty and leader of the Congress party, was found guilty of defamation by a court in the western state of Gujarat over comments he made in a speech in 2019.
Gandhi has filed a plea in the Surat sessions court against the magistrate order, the Indian Express newspaper reported, while a senior Congress party official, who declined to be named, told Reuters that the court is scheduled to hear the plea on Monday.
Gandhi’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
India’s Parliament disqualified Gandhi after sentencing,
A lower court sentenced Gandhi on March 23 to two years in jail on charges of defamation.
Opposition politicians say Gandhi’s trial and the disqualification is the latest evidence of the Modi government’s strong-arm tactics and follows investigations and legal troubles faced in recent months by other opposition parties.
Gandhi said on March 25 that he would not comment on his sentence as the matter was subjudice, but he said his disqualification from Parliament was because he had asked Mr Modi what he called “tough questions”
The opposition critics accuse Mr Modi’s government of giving undue favours to a business group led by Mr Adani.
Shares of Adani group companies plunged after Hindenburg Research on Jan 24 alleged that the Indian company had engaged in stock manipulation and used tax havens.
A day after Gandhi’s conviction, 14 political parties jointly petitioned the Supreme Court,
