India: The Supreme Court of India has suspended opposition party leader Mr. Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in a defamation case. The new order will allow the Indian National Congress leader to return to parliament and contest the 2024 national elections.
Mr. Gandhi was convicted in March in a case filed by Mr. Purnesh Modi, a legislator belonging to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The case was based on comments he made in 2019 when he questioned why “all thieves have Modi as their common surname.”
The remarks were deemed insulting to Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi and other people surnamed Modi, including the BJP legislator. The surname Modi is associated with the lower rungs of India’s caste hierarchy.
Mr. Gandhi had lost his parliamentary seat following the conviction, since politicians sentenced to jail terms of two years or more are automatically disqualified.
Lower courts and the high court in Gujarat, Mr. Modi’s home state where the BJP holds power, had rejected appeals by Mr. Gandhi to suspend the conviction, causing him to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court judge Justice B. R. Gavai remarked that the lower court, which sentenced Mr. Gandhi to two years in jail, had not given any reasons for handing down the maximum sentence of two years.
Mr. Gandhi’s 731-page submission to the Supreme Court noted that his speech was made “in the course of democratic political activity.”
“His sentence was gravely detrimental to democratic free speech,” the document added.
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