The Surat sessions court on Thursday rejected Rahul Gandhi's appeal seeking a stay and suspension of the lower court order which convicted him in the 2019 defamation case and sentenced him to two years in jail. 

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called that the appellate court's decision a "slap on the face of the Gandhi family" 

The BJP said that the court proved that the law is equal for all and "there cannot be preferential treatment for any family". The former Wayanad MP will now have to appeal in Gujarat High Court or Supreme Court against the Surat court's order. 

Addressing a press conference on the issue, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said that

"The decision of the Appellate Court of Surat has come today, there is an atmosphere of happiness in the whole country. The backward class for whom Rahul Gandhi had used objectionable words and abused them... and by doing all this, the Gandhi family thought that they would get away with it, that has not happened," he said.

"Court's decision is a slap on the face of the Gandhi family. Today the court of Surat proves that the law is equal for all," Patra added.

Describing the court's order as a special moment for the judiciary, the BJP leader said that it states that "no protests, or mobilisation can make the judiciary buckle under pressure".

"One thing is clear from today's decision that in this country the constitution rules, the family does not rule and there cannot be preferential treatment for any family," he said.