On Friday, the Supreme Court put a hold on the conviction of Rahul Gandhi, previous Congress President, in a defamation case called the 'Modi surname' case. This case had resulted in Gandhi losing his seat in the Lok Sabha, India's lower house of Parliament. The court noted that the trial judge did not provide a reason for giving the harshest penalty of two years. Rahul Gandhi's lawyer, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, said it was odd that the case was brought against Gandhi by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi, since none of the people Gandhi named in his speech took legal action. The judges also noted that if Rahul Gandhi's punishment was one day less than two years, he would have kept his place in Parliament. The Supreme Court was looking into an appeal by Rahul Gandhi against the decision of the Gujarat High Court. The Gujarat court had not agreed to delay his conviction in the 'Modi surname' case. Rahul Gandhi lost
