'Modi surname' defamation case: SC stays Rahul Gandhi's conviction, revives MP status

The Supreme Court Friday stayed Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in 2019 criminal defamation case against him for his ‘Modi surname’ remark.

The court has revived Gandhi’s status as a Member of Parliament and now the Congress leader can contest elections.

The court said there was no reasons given by trial judge in giving the maximum punishment of two years. It further said Gandhi’s disqualification affects not only him, but also the electorates of his constituency.

Gandhi had approached the apex court challenging the Gujarat High Court’s order dismissing his application to stay the conviction in the defamation case.

Conviction in the case led to Gandhi’s disqualification as a Member of Parliament.

SC stays Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in 2019 defamation case

A three-judge bench of Justices BR Gavai, PS Narasimha and Sanjay Kumar hearing Gandhi’s plea, on Friday observed that the remarks by him were not in “good taste” and said a person in public life ought to have been more careful while making public speeches.

The bench said that it is staying the conviction after considering the wide ramifications of the Section 8(3) affecting not only the right of the petitioner but also the rights of the electorate which elected him in the constituency and also the fact that no reason has been assigned by the trial court to award the maximum sentence.

It refrained from making any observations on the merits of the matter considering the pendency of the appeal.

“Not only was Gandhi’s right to continue in public life affected but also that of the electorate who elected him,” the Supreme Court said.

The criminal defamation case against Gandhi was filed by Purnesh Modi, a former minister in the Gujarat government, in 2019 over his “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?” remark made during an election rally at Kolar in Karnataka on 13 April, 2019.

Rahul Gandhi refuses to apologise

Earlier this week, Gandhi refused to apologise for his remark but urged the Supreme Court to stay his conviction in the criminal defamation case, asserting he is not guilty.

In an affidavit filed before the apex court, Gandhi had said, Modi has in his reply used “slanderous” terms such as “arrogant” for him only because he has refused to apologise.

“Using the criminal process and the consequences under Representation of People Act to arm twist the Petitioner into apologising for no fault is gross abuse of the judicial process and ought not to be countenanced by this Court.”

“The petitioner maintains and has always maintained that he is not guilty of offence and that the conviction is unsustainable and if he had to apologise and compound the offence, he would have done it much earlier,” Gandhi said in the affidavit.

With inputs from agencies