Rahul Gandhi can now contest elections, return to Lok Sabha. What lies ahead for Congress leader

livemint.com:

Rahul Gandhi in the Modi surname defamation case. The Supreme Court has said that there was no reason given by the trial court judge in Gujarat for imposing maximum sentence, order of conviction needs to be stayed pending final adjudication. While the order was celebrated by through the Congress leadership and members, also the Opposition INDIA bloc, this does not mean the acquittal of the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from the Modi Surname defamation charges.

Here's taking a look for the path ahead for Rahul Gandhi At a rally in Karnataka's Kolar in April 2019, Rahul Gandhi, in a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said, "How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?". Following this the case was filed by Purnesh Modi, who is a member of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat state but is not related to the prime minister. The Supreme Court on Friday noted that the “utterances are not in good taste, person in public life is expected to exercise caution while making public speeches".

A Supreme Court bench comprising Justices BR Gavai, PS Narasimha, and Sanjay Kumar was hearing Rahul Gandhi's plea for stay on his conviction. The bench also observed that Rahul Gandhi ‘ought to have been more careful’. The trial judge has awarded the maximum sentence of two years in the case, the top court observed in its judgement, adding that it would not have attracted disqualification if the sentence was a day lesser.

The Gujarat High Court had earlier refused to stay Rahul Gandhi's conviction in the criminal defamation case. The Supreme Court bench has only stayed the conviction order passed by a trial court in Gujarat. The apex court has said that the ‘conviction needs to be stayed pending final adjudication.’ Rahul