Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition, was granted bail by an Indian court on Friday in the most recent of multiple defamation lawsuits filed against him for charging Prime Minister Narendra Modi or his party with corruption.
Gandhi, 53, has been the target of multiple legal challenges from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and following a conviction for criminal libel last year, he was momentarily barred from parliament.
Several prominent opposition figures, including him, are being prosecuted in instances they allege are politically motivated by the Modi administration.
The most recent instance arose from advertising released by Gandhi’s Congress party, which charged the BJP of embezzling commissions from southern Karnataka state building projects.
Gandhi, 53, has not been detained in relation to the accusation. In a five-minute procedural hearing to decide whether or not to keep him free, he was granted bail, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala confirmed to AFP.
Last week, the bail of two other prominent Congressmen in the state of Karnataka was already granted; neither of them had been detained previously.
Gandhi was found guilty in a different Gujarati case last year of two years in prison, but he was spared jail time after filing an appeal with India’s highest court.
Nonetheless, the term resulted in his temporary suspension from the legislature until the Supreme Court overturned his conviction.Days after Modi and the BJP emerged victorious in national elections, albeit with a diminished majority that necessitated their reliance on coalition partners for governance, came Friday’s case.
Modi and his party have come under fire for allegedly utilizing the legal system to attack political adversaries.
The BJP has “increasingly used government institutions to target political opponents,” according to US think tank Freedom House.
Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi and a member of the Congress-led broad opposition alliance, was imprisoned this year in relation to an ongoing bribery investigation.Kejriwal was briefly released from custody last month so he could run for office, but he was taken back into custody after the polls closed.
