<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>A Surat court on Monday granted bail to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case over his 2019 remark about the surname Modi.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>The sessions court will hear the matter on April 13, an official said.</div><div><br></div><div>The 52-year-old Congress leader reached Surat in the afternoon via a scheduled commercial flight along with sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and proceeded to the sessions court.</div><div><br></div><div>He was convicted by a lower court here and sentenced to prison for two years last month for a speech in which he linked PM Modi's last name with two fugitive businessmen, remarking how the "thieves" shared the same last name.</div><div><br></div><div>The lower court had granted him bail for 30 days to appeal the verdict.</div><div><br></div><div>A day later, he was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha. - PTI</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>