Congress leaders question Surat judgment, to appeal Rahul Gandhi's conviction
1 min read 24 Mar 2023, 04:50 PM ISTRahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Friday, a day after being convicted in a 2019 criminal defamation case. Congress leaders are set to appeal the Surat court's verdict.
PremiumCongress leader Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a Lok Sabh MP on Friday, following his conviction in a criminal defamation case. As the Congress gears up to appeal the verdict in a higher court, party leaders have insisted that the judgement was ‘erroneous and unsustainable’.
“We are confident that we will get a stay of the conviction which will remove the very basis of this disqualification. We have full faith in the law. We believe we will emerge victorious in the near future," asserted Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Friday.
A day earlier the senior politician had said that the trial court's 170-page judgment was still subject to translation and that the party was working towards filing an appeal against it in a higher court.
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"We believe that this is full of errors and legally unsustainable in conclusion. But make no mistake generally...all your (government's) efforts to create a chilling effect, a throttling effect, strangulating effect on open, fearless speech relating to public interest will not stop either Rahul Gandhi or the Congress party," he had told reporters.
“Judgement on 23 March, disqualification on 24 March. The speed with which the system moved is astonishing. No time is spent on reflection, understanding or allowing time for legal review. Obviously, there are no voices of moderation in the BJP party or government. The net result is parliamentary democracy has suffered another cruel blow," added fellow party leader P Chidambaram.
(With inputs from agencies)
