India's Rahul Gandhi set to return to parliament as court stays conviction
The Supreme Court of India has suspended opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in a defamation case, an order that will allow him to return to parliament and contest national elections due next year.
The Supreme Court of India has suspended opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in a defamation case, an order that will allow him to return to parliament and contest national elections due next year.
Gandhi was convicted in March in a case brought by Purnesh Modi, a legislator from the western state of Gujarat belonging to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), over comments he made in 2019 when he asked why “all thieves have Modi as [their] common surname”.
Gandhi had then referred to three well-known and unrelated Modis in the speech: a fugitive Indian diamond tycoon, a cricket executive banned from the Indian Premier League (IPL), and the prime minister.
But the remarks were deemed insulting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other people surnamed Modi, including the BJP legislator. The surname is associated with the lower rungs of India’s caste hierarchy.
Come what may, my duty remains the same.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 4, 2023
Protect the idea of India.
