Former Congress MP Rahul Gandhi was recently convicted in a criminal defamation case filed by a Gujarat BJP leader by the Court of HH Varma, CJM, Surat and was sentenced to two years of imprisonment. The conviction even led to the disqualification of Congress MP from the lower house of the Parliament, Lok Sabha.
Rahul Gandhi was immediately released on bail by the same court even after being found guilty of the offence of defamation. The law under Section 389 (3) which immediately got Rahul Gandhi released on bail says that if the offence for which the person is convicted is a bailable one and the person is already on bail and he satisfies the Court that he intends to prefer an appeal to his conviction, then the Court shall order the release of the convicted person on bail for such period as will afford him sufficient time to prefer an appeal against his conviction in the appellate Court. The sentence of the convict shall be deemed to be suspended for the time he is given to prefer an appeal. However, the release of the convicted person on bail is only for the time being he is ordered to prefer an appeal to his conviction. Thereafter, he is required to seek bail from the appellate Court.
Rahul Gandhi was given one month time upon his conviction by the Court of CJM, Surat to prefer an appeal to challenge his conviction order as condition for releasing him on bail and subsequently, the former Congress MP presented his appeal before the Sessions Court, Surat on Monday i.e. 3rd April 2023. Immediately after filing his appeal, he was granted bail by the Sessions Court, Surat.
This article is written by Adv. Pranav Juneja. He practises primarily in the Courts of Delhi and Haryana. For feedback, he may be contacted at pranavdefends@gmail.com or 9991189110.
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