Earlier in the day, Gandhi had filed an appeal against his conviction in the case. His conviction, however, has not been stayed by the Court yet. The case will be heard next 13 April.
BACKGROUND:
This comes ten days after (on 23 March) he was sentenced to two years in prison by a Surat court for reportedly saying, "Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi. How come all the thieves have 'Modi' as a common surname?"
However, soon after the order was passed, Gandhi's sentence was suspended for 30 days to enable him to appeal his conviction.
The appeal, “supervised, controlled and advised” by Rajya Sabha MP and senior lawyer Abhishek Singhvi, according to The Indian Express, sought a on the conviction.
“We are going to file the appeal on Monday at the Surat Sessions court against the lower CJM court verdict in a defamation case against Rahul Gandhi. Gandhi will be present in the court and the legal team of Congress party from Delhi too will be present," Rahul Gandhi’s lawyer in Gujarat Kirit Panwala said, according to The Indian Express.
A day after his conviction, he was disqualified as an MP from Lok Sabha and then asked to leave his government-alloted bungalow.
Several senior party leaders, including AICC General Secretary in charge of organisation K C Venugopal, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Digvijaya Singh and Anand Sharma will also reportedly accompany Gandhi to the sessions court in Gujarat.
After the court order, Mr Gandhi tweeted he is fighting against "Mitrakal", alluding to the ruling BJP, often the target of the Congress over allegations of misusing government agencies to harass the opposition.
He is accompanied by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Bhupesh Baghel & other leaders of Congress party.
