Rahul Gandhi has filed a petition in Supreme Court challenging the Gujarat high court’s refusal to stay his conviction in the criminal defamation case.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Gujarat high court’s refusal to stay his conviction in the criminal defamation case over ‘Modi surname’ remarks. The conviction in the case led to his disqualification as Lok Sabha MP.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has maintained that there was no malafide intention on his part when he made the statement in question.(File)
On Friday, the Gujarat high court had dealt a blow to Gandhi’s endeavour to revive his Lok Sabha membership as it refused to put on hold his conviction and a two-year jail term in the criminal defamation case, ruling that the Congress leader “breached modesty” and that his offence involved “moral turpitude”.
The verdict sparked a political row with the Congress saying it would appeal the decision in the Supreme Court and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saying Gandhi was a “habitual offender” in insulting people, pointing to his comments on the Modi surname before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections that prompted the criminal defamation case and eventually cost him his Lok Sabha seat.
“The present conviction is a serious matter affecting a large segment of society and needs to be viewed by this court with the gravity and significance it commands… It is now the need of the hour to have purity in politics. Representatives of people should be men of clear antecedent,” justice Hemant P Prachchhak had said rejecting Gandhi’s criminal revision application seeking a stay on his conviction.
Gandhi has maintained that there was no malafide intention on his part when he made the statement in question.
On March 23, 2023, the chief judicial magistrate court in Surat convicted and sentenced Gandhi to two years imprisonment, following which he was disqualified as a member of Lok Sabha. However, his sentence was suspended, and he was also granted bail on the same day to enable him to move an appeal against his conviction within 30 days.
What is the Rahul Gandhi defamation case?
During the 2019 Lok Sabha campaign, Rahul Gandhi made a remark that led to the filing of a criminal defamation case against him. Gandhi had questioned why individuals like Lalit Modi and Nirav Modi, who share the same surname, were involved in wrongdoing, stating “why all thieves have the same surname?”
BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi filed a criminal defamation case against Gandhi, claiming that his comment defamed the entire Modi community.
After nearly two years of stagnation in the courts, the case against Gandhi was resumed earlier this year, leading to his conviction for defamation in March.
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