#206 Those Immutable Laws

<p><strong>India Policy Watch: Those Mind Games</strong></p><p><em>Insights on issues relevant to India</em></p><p><em>— RSJ</em></p><p>Regular readers might have noticed the absence of posts analysing the political economy and politics in general in our editions of late. This isn’t intentional. There’s not much to write about. There is a strange sense of stasis all around. Every move, every act is a chronicle of a future foretold. This inertness stems from a complete absence of ferment in the political landscape. The external factors that could impact politics, like the economy or national security, appear stable. And those directly in the fray have to contend with a political juggernaut backed by a fawning media that takes no prisoners. It is a complete mismatch. So, what can one write about except rallies, speeches and opinion polls</p><p>Into this state of ennui, this week walked the Court of chief judicial magistrate HH Verma, Surat. Here’s <a target="_blank" href="https://www.livemint.com/news/india/rahul-gandhi-disqualified-by-parliament-after-conviction-in-modi-surname-case-11679647251196.html">the Mint reporting</a> on this:</p><p>“The Surat District Court sentenced Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to two years of imprisonment in the criminal defamation case filed against him over his alleged 'Modi surname' remark. The Congress leader was later granted bail by the court.</p><p>The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Varma, which held Gandhi guilty under Indian Penal Code sections 499 and 500, also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court, the Congress leader's lawyer Babu Mangukiya said.</p><p>The case was filed against Rahul Gandhi for his alleged “how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?" remarks on a complaint lodged by BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi. The Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad made the alleged remarks while addressing a rally at Kolar in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.”</p><p>In a remarkable feat