Indian court pauses Rahul Gandhi's 2-year sentence

The hearing in the case challenging Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's conviction in the 2019 defamation case will next be held on May 3 at the Surat District and Sessions Court, which on Monday extended his bail till April 13. After the Surat court's verdict, Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as MP from Lok Sabha.

The former Congress president, sources say, requested for an interim stay on the conviction which would also restore his Lok Sabha membership, NDTV reports.

Rahul Gandhi was accompanied by his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Chief Ministers of three Congress-ruled states - Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu - are also in Gujarat for Mr Gandhi's "moral support".

The BJP called Mr Gandhi's visit to Surat with his sister and some party leaders as "a childish attempt" to pressurise the judiciary.

The 52-year-old Congress leader has filed a criminal appeal challenging the conviction by a Surat magistrate court on March 23 that convicted him for two years simple imprisonment in the complaint filed by Surat West MLA Purnesh Modi.

On March 23, while convicting Gandhi, the court suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal and approved bail on a surety of Rs 15,000. A day later, Gandhi was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha. The Congress party is hopeful the court will stay his conviction, which will open the doors for revocation of his disqualification as an LS MP.