The Gujarat High Court has refused to grant interim relief to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case over his “Modi surname” remark in which he was sentenced to two years in jail by a Surat court. The court will give an order on his petition post-summer vacation. Gandhi had sought an interim stay of the conviction till the High Court pronounced the order on his petition. The former Congress president was disqualified as a Member of Parliament after the Surat court decision. The case was filed by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi over Gandhi’s remark made during an election rally at Kolar in Karnataka in 2019.
The alleged offence was non-serious in nature and did not involve moral turpitude, and yet Mr Gandhi’s disqualification, because of not staying his conviction, would affect him as well as the people of his constituency, he had said.
On April 3, Mr Gandhi’s lawyer approached the sessions court with two applications, one for bail and another for a stay on conviction pending his appeal, along with his main appeal against the lower court’s order sentencing him to two years in jail.
Rahul Gandhi’s lawyer had argued that the alleged offence of criminal defamation was non-serious in nature and did not involve moral turpitude. However, the two-year jail term resulted in his disqualification as a Member of Parliament, which would affect him as well as the people of his constituency. On April 3, his lawyer had approached the sessions court with two applications, one for bail and another for a stay on conviction pending his appeal, along with his main appeal against the lower court’s order sentencing him to two years in jail.
Last Wednesday, Justice Gita Gopi of the Gujarat High Court recused herself from hearing the case after it was presented before her for an urgent hearing. The matter was then assigned to Justice Prachchhak.
Last Wednesday, Justice Gita Gopi of the Gujarat High Court recused herself from hearing the case after it was presented before her for an urgent hearing. The matter was then assigned to Justice Prachchhak.