Rahul Gandhi Defamation Case: HC refused to stay, 2 years jail permanent

Rahul Gandhi Defamation Case: The Gujarat High Court refused to stay the conviction of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in criminal defamation case over his Modi surname remark on Friday. The court of Justice Hemant Prachchhak delivered the verdict.

In a big setback for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the Gujarat high court on Friday upheld the Sessions court’s order denying a stay on the conviction of his plea in a defamation case over his 2019 Modi surname remark. The court, while pronouncing the verdict, said “the order is just proper and legal”.

The refusal of stay of conviction won’t result in injustice to him, the court said. There is no reasonable ground to stay the conviction. The impugned order is just proper and legal. The trial court conviction order is proper and there is no need to interfere with the said order. The disqualification is not limited to only MPs and MLAs,” the court said.

The court further noted that at least 10 criminal cases are pending against Rahul Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi will not be able to contest elections or seek revocation of the suspension of his status as a Member of Parliament (MP). In May, the court had denied interim protection to Rahul Gandhi in the case and had reserved his plea under consideration.

On March 23, Surat Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Varma had convicted Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case and sentenced him to two years of imprisonment. After he was granted bail by the court, Gandhi’s lawyer, Kirit Panwala, applied for an appeal against the judgment in the Surat Additional Session Court of Justice RP Mogera.

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The case was filed against Gandhi for his alleged “How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?” remarks, on a complaint lodged by BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi. Rahul Gandhi made the alleged remarks while addressing a rally at Kolar in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

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