Gujarat High Court dismisses Rahul Gandhi’s plea against his conviction in defamation case
The Hindu
The Gujarat High Court on July 7, 2023, refused to stay the conviction and suspend two years jail term awarded to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the criminal defamation case in which he has been sentenced to two years in jail by a court in Surat. The case was related to remarks about the Modi surname during a rally in 2019 while campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka.
The Gujarat High Court on July 7, 2023, refused to stay the conviction and suspend two years jail term awarded to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the criminal defamation case in which he has been sentenced to two years in jail by a court in Surat.
The case was related to remarks about the Modi surname during a rally in 2019 while campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka.
After he was convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment in March this year, he was disqualified as as a Member of Parliament from Lok Sabha.
Justice Helmand Prachchhak of the High Court, who completed the hearing on May 2, dismissed Mr. Gandhi’s plea to stay the conviction.
The High Court held that Mr. Gandhi’s plea was on absolute non-existent ground, as 10 criminal cases are pending against him in various places. The court said a Representative of People should be a man of clear character. The court also cited complaint filed by grandson of Veer Savarkar.
The criminal defamation complaint was filed against Mr Gandhi by BJP legislator Purnesh Modi, who had approached the court contending that Mr Gandh’s statement: “why do all thieves have Modi surname in common” had tarnished and defamed the Modi community.
The remark was made by Mr Gandhi during the last parliamentary polls in 2019 while addressing a campaign rally in Karnataka.
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