NEW DELHI (AP) — An Indian court docket on Thursday heard an enchantment from opposition Congress occasion chief Rahul Gandhi to remain his conviction in a felony defamation case for mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surname which resulted in his expulsion from Parliament.

Judge Robin Mogera mentioned he’ll rule on the enchantment on April 20. Attorneys representing Gandhi and the complainant, Purnesh Modi, a state lawmaker belonging to the prime minister’s Bharatiya Janata Party, introduced their arguments in court docket on Thursday.

Gandhi was exempted from showing in court docket. His lawyer, R.S. Cheema, argued that the regulation mandates that solely an individual who’s defamed can file a grievance.

A keep of Gandhi’s conviction would cease any fast by-election in his parliamentary constituency to exchange him. After the April 20 ruling, the court docket will hear full arguments on the enchantment from each side for a remaining ruling on whether or not the conviction needs to be overturned.

Gandhi was convicted final month and sentenced to 2 years in jail over a 2019 speech through which he requested, “Why do all thieves have Modi as their surname?” Gandhi then referred to a few well-known and unrelated Modis: a fugitive Indian diamond tycoon, a cricket govt banned from the Indian Premier League match and the prime minister.

Under Indian regulation, a felony conviction and jail sentence of two years or extra are grounds for expulsion from Parliament. Gandhi was instantly disqualified, dealing an enormous blow to his Congress occasion forward of basic elections subsequent 12 months.

Gandhi dangers dropping his eligibility to run in elections for the following eight years if the court docket doesn’t overturn his conviction and two-year sentence.

The prosecution of Gandhi, the great-grandson of India’s first prime minister and scion of the dynastic Congress occasion, was broadly condemned by opponents of Modi as the most recent assault in opposition to democracy and free speech by a authorities looking for to crush dissent. The velocity of his elimination from Parliament shocked Indian politics.

Lawyer Harshit Tolia, representing complainant Purnesh Modi, instructed the court docket that it shouldn’t present any leniency to Gandhi.

“He is such a tall leader. Such a big personality, he can’t say sorry but only show arrogance. He isn’t entitled to any relief at this stage,” Bar and Bench, a web based portal for Indian authorized information, quoted Tolia as saying.