"Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison on Thursday in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surname by a court in Gujarat's Surat. However, he was granted bail and his sentence was suspended for 30 days to let him appeal the decision.
The case was filed against Mr Gandhi by BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi for saying "How come all thieves have the common surname Modi?"
The Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad made the remarks while addressing a rally at Kolar in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, targetting PM Modi over his last name which he shares with fugitive businessmen Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi.
Nirav Modi is a fugitive Indian diamond tycoon while Lalit Modi is a former chief of the Indian Premier League who has been banned for life by the country's cricket board. Mr Gandhi argued that he had made the comment to highlight corruption and it was not directed against any community.
The case against him was filed on the basis of a complaint by Purnesh Modi, a lawmaker from India's governing Bharatiya Janata Party, who said that Mr Gandhi's comments had defamed the entire Modi community.
But some have said they are puzzled by the order.
Legal scholar Gautam Bhatia tweeted that "references to a generic class of persons" - surnames in this case - are not "actionable unless an individual can show a direct reference to themselves".
"If a man says 'all lawyers are thieves', then I, as a lawyer, cannot file a case against him for defamation unless I can show its imputation aimed at me," Mr Bhatia said.
India's criminal defamation law is British-era legislation under which there can be a maximum prison sentence of two years, a fine or both.
Free speech advocates have often argued that the law goes against the principles of freedom and that it is is used by politicians to silence their critics.
In 2016, some top Indian politicians including Mr Gandhi filed legal pleas arguing for defamation to be decriminalised. But India's Supreme Court upheld the validity of the law, saying that the "right to free speech cannot mean that a citizen can defame the other".
The Congress party tweeted that Mr Gandhi would appeal and said "we will fight and win".
Mr Gandhi has not commented publicly yet but has tweeted a quote in Hindi from India's independence leader Mahatma Gandhi: "My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God, and non-violence the means to get it."
His lawyer, Kirit Panwala, told BBC Gujarati that Mr Gandhi had told the judge after the order that he had made the speech "in favour of democracy".
He also said that their defence of Mr Gandhi was based on four points: "Firstly, Mr Gandhi is not a resident of Gujarat and so, before the complaint, an inquiry should be conducted. Secondly, there is no community named Modi. Thirdly, there is no association of people with Modi as their surname and lastly, there was no ill intention behind Mr Gandhi's speech."
Some have raised questions over Mr Gandhi's status as a member of parliament after the conviction.
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