Congress leader Rahul Gandhi gets no relief in Modi surname case
Rahul Gandhi has sought a stay on his conviction by a Surat magistrate court, which had found the Congress leader guilty of criminal defamation and had sentenced him to the maximum sentence of two years under the provision of the law.
The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday refused to grant any interim relief to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the defamation case over the “Modi surname” remark and said it would pass the order on his appeal post-summer vacation.
Justice Hemant Prachchhak, who was urged by senior counselAbhishek Manu Singhivi, representing Rahul Gandhi to pass an interim order, refused to pass any interim order and said that he will pronounce the final verdict after reopening the court, Bar and Bench reported.
As per the High Court schedule, May 5 is the last working day before summer vacation and it will reopen on June 5.
Rahul Gandhi has sought a stay on his conviction by a Surat magistrate court, which had found the Congress leader guilty of criminal defamation and had sentenced him to the maximum sentence of two years under the provision of the law.
Following his conviction and two years of imprisonment in the criminal defamation case, Rahul Gandhi, who was elected a Member of Parliament from Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, was disqualified from the Parliament. He had also approached a Surat sessions court for stay on his conviction, but he failed to get relief from the sessions court.
Rahul Gandhi’s counsel urged the High Court to stay his conviction in the criminal defamation case filed by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi, submitting that the defamation case does not involve serious or moral turpitude.
Rahul Gandhi’s counsel further argued that the case in which he has been convicted is not a serious offence and neither is cognisable and non-bailable and he has not created any issues related to law-and-order and these are sufficient grounds for the High Court to exercise its power to stay his conviction.
Rahul Gandhi has further said that complainant BJP MLA Purnesh Modi was not the affected person and he was not named in his speech made in Karnataka ahead of 2019 general elections and since his alleged speech was aimed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, only Prime Minister is mandated under the law to file such a complaint and not anyone from the so-called 13 crore community.
Rahul Gandhi further argued in the High Court that his Lok Sabha constituency Wayanad has been deprived of its representation following his disqualification and it is an irreversible loss to him. The Congress leader’s counsel further told the High Court that if his conviction is not stayed in the defamation case, he will stand disqualified for eight years, which the former Congress vice president does not deserve.
