Gandhi, the main face of the opposition Congress occasion, was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment however instantly granted bail after his legal professionals introduced their intention to attraction.

The case stemmed from a comment made throughout the 2019 election marketing campaign wherein the 52-year-old had requested why “all thieves have Modi as (their) common surname”.

His feedback had been seen as a slur towards the prime minister, who went on to win the election in a landslide, and people sharing his surname.

Gandhi’s lawyer B. M. Mangukiya stated his shopper had not meant to insult anybody.

“When the magistrate asked Gandhi what he had to say in his defence, the Congress leader said that he was fighting to expose corruption in the country,” Mangukiya instructed reporters exterior the court docket.

“His comments were not meant to hurt or insult any community.”

Gandhi is the son, grandson and great-grandson of a dynasty of former Indian prime ministers, starting with independence chief Jawaharlal Nehru.

But the scion of India’s most well-known political dynasty has struggled to problem the electoral juggernaut of Modi and its nationalist appeals to the nation’s Hindu majority.

His Congress occasion, a once-mighty power with a proud position in ending British colonial rule 75 years in the past, is now a shadow of its former self after two landslide election defeats with Gandhi on the helm.

Gandhi, who was current in court docket in Surat for the decision, was greeted by supporters on his arrival.

He faces at the very least two different defamation circumstances elsewhere within the nation.

Gandhi can also be on bail in one other cash laundering case that has been snaking its means by way of India’s glacial authorized system for greater than a decade. He denies any monetary impropriety.

str-abh/gle/mtp