Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has moved the Supreme Court against the Gujarat High Court order of July 7, which refused to stay his conviction in a criminal defamation case related to his derogatory remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The petition filed by Rahul contended that the offence of defamation under Sections 499/500 of the Indian Penal Code was attracted only with respect to a defined group.
It claimed that ‘Modi’ was an undefined amorphous group having about 13 crore people living in different parts of the country and belonging to different communities.
The plea further noted that the term ‘Modi’ did not fall in any category of association or collection of persons as stipulated under Section 499 of IPC.
The Congress leader claimed in the petition that he made the comment referring to Lalit Modi and Nirav Modi. The comment was specifically referring to certain specified individuals and the complainant, Purnesh Ishwarbhai Modi, could not be held to be defamed by the said remark, which was addressed in a specific context in reference to specific individuals.
On July 7, the Single-Judge Bench of Justice Hemant Prachchhak rejected the review petition filed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case that led to his disqualification from the Lok Sabha.
The High Court further refused to stay the conviction and two-year jail term awarded to the Congress leader.
It observed that staying the conviction was not a rule and the same must only be exercised in rare cases. The Bench noted that at least 10 criminal cases were pending against Gandhi.
It said even after the present case, some more cases were filed against him, adding that representatives of people should remain of clear character.
As per the High Court, a case was filed against Rahul Gandhi by the grandson of Veer Savarkar in a Pune court, accusing him of using defamational terms against Veer Savarkar in Cambridge. In another case, complaints were also filed in a court in Lucknow.
The Bench further said that in the backdrop of the facts of the instant case, no case was made out to stay the conviction.
Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as an MP after being convicted for criminal defamation on March 23 for his remark “all thieves have Modi surname,” which he had made at an election rally in Karnataka’s Kolar in 2019.
In his speech, Gandhi had linked Prime Minister Narendra Modi with fugitives like Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi.
During the election rally in Kolar, he said Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi. How come all the thieves have ‘Modi’ as a common surname?”
A former BJP Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), Purnesh Modi, took exception to the said speech and said that Gandhi humiliated and defamed persons with the Modi surname.
Chief Judicial Magistrate H.H. Varma in Surat had sentenced Gandhi to two years in jail, after finding him guilty under Sections 499 (Defamation) and 500 (punishment for defamation) IPC.
Judge Harish Hasmukhbhai Varma said that since Rahul was a Member of Parliament (MP), whatever he said, was bound to have a greater impact. Thus, he should have exercised restraint.
Gandhi’s conviction under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), both of which warrant a maximum sentence of two years, led to his disqualification from the Parliament, as per a Supreme Court order of 2013.
He was disqualified as a Member of Parliament (MP) of the Lok Sabha on March 24 and further barred from contesting elections till 2031.
(Case title: Rahul Gandhi vs Purnesh Modi)