The Gujarat High Court has declined to grant a stay on the conviction and two-year jail term imposed on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case. The case was filed against him for his remark, "All thieves have Modi surname" [Rahul Gandhi v Purnesh Modi].
Justice Hemant Prachchhak, the single-judge hearing the case, stated that staying the conviction is not a common practice and should only be done in exceptional circumstances. The judge pointed out that there are already 10 criminal cases pending against Rahul Gandhi, and more cases have been filed against him even after the present one. The judge emphasized that representatives of the people should maintain a clear character. The court highlighted a case filed by the grandson of Veer Savarkar in Pune, where defamatory terms were used against Veer Savarkar in Cambridge. Additionally, a complaint was filed in a court in Lucknow in another case.
Based on the facts of the current case, the court found no grounds to stay the conviction. The bench determined that the conviction order was just, proper, and legal, and there was no need to interfere with it. The court concluded that the conviction would not result in any injustice to Rahul Gandhi, leading to the dismissal of his application.
To provide background, Rahul Gandhi's plea seeking suspension of his conviction by the Magistrate court had been dismissed by a sessions court in Surat on April 20. The sessions court held that Gandhi's disqualification would not cause him irreparable or irreversible loss and denied him interim relief. The Magistrate court in Surat had convicted Gandhi on March 23 for his remark made at an election rally in Karnataka's Kolar constituency in 2019, where he linked Prime Minister Narendra Modi with fugitives like Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi. Purnesh Modi, a former BJP Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), filed the case claiming that Gandhi had humiliated and defamed individuals with the Modi surname. The Magistrate court accepted the contention and ruled that Gandhi intentionally insulted people with the 'Modi' surname. As a result of today's order by the Gujarat High Court, Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha will continue due to his conviction in the case.
TAGS: Gujarat High Court Rahul Gandhi conviction jail term Congress leader criminal defamation case Magistrate court stay remark "All thieves have Modi surname" Justice Hemant Prachchhak rare cases criminal cases Veer Savarkar Pune Lucknow representatives of people clear character dismissal background sessions court Surat suspension disqualification Wayanad Kerala Nirav Modi Lalit Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi election rally Kolar constituency Purnesh Modi BJP Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) insult defamation Judge Hadirash Varma impact Lok Sabha.
