A Surat court on Monday granted bail to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case, reported Live Law.

On March 23, Gandhi was sentenced to two years imprisonment for his speech ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in which he had referred to thieves as having the surname Modi. The court, however, granted bail to the Congress leader and suspended his sentence for 30 days in order to allow him to appeal against the verdict.

On Monday, Gandhi filed an appeal challenging his conviction. At the hearing, the court told Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Purnesh Modi, who had filed the defamation case, to respond to Gandhi’s appeal by April 10.

The court has extended Gandhi’s bail till April 13, which is the next date of hearing in the case.

A day after his conviction, Gandhi was disqualified as a Lok Sabha MP under the Representation of the People Act, 1951. According to Section 8(3) of the law, a legislator sentenced to jail for two years or more stands to be disqualified from the date of conviction till six years after serving time.

Gandhi’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha will be revoked if the court stays his conviction.

The Congress leader has been convicted under Sections 499 (defamation) and 500 (punishment for defamation) of the Indian Penal Code. The former Wayanad MP had allegedly made the remarks at a rally in Karnataka’s Kolar ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He was said to have asked: “Why all the thieves, be it Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi or Narendra Modi, have Modi in their names?”

Nirav Modi is a fugitive businessman accused in the Punjab National Bank scam while Lalit Modi is former Indian Premier League chief who has been banned for life by the cricket governing body.

After the Surat court’s Monday order, Gandhi said that truth is his weapon.

“This is a fight to save democracy, against ‘Mitrakal’,” he said in a tweet. “In this struggle, truth is my weapon, and the truth is my refuge!”

The Bharatiya Janata Party alleged that Gandhi went to Surat along with senior Congress leaders with pomp and show to add to the insult of the Other Backward Classes community. The BJP has alleged that the Congress leader’s comments constituted an insult to the Other Backward Classes community.

“Are you [Gandhi] trying to exert pressure on the judiciary by approaching the court with chief ministers and senior Congress leaders?” BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra asked on Monday.

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju also alleged that the presence of Congress leaders in Surat was a way of trying to exert “undue pressure” on the judiciary.

To this, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the decision by the party leaders to accompany Gandhi to the court was personal.

“Even in a small case, family members join and go to court,” Kharge said, according to PTI. “Here, it is about an entire party and he [Gandhi] is fighting for the country.”