The Supreme Court will hear on Friday the plea filed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi against the Gujarat high court's verdict that declined to put on hold his conviction in a defamation case over his “Modi surname” remark that cost him his Lok Sabha membership.
In the last hearing in the apex court, a bench of Justices BR Gavai and PK Mishra had sought responses from former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi and the state government on Gandhi's appeal challenging the high court verdict and listed the matter for further hearing on August 4.
Purnesh Modi had filed a criminal defamation case against Gandhi over his "How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?" remark made during an election rally at Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019.
“The limited question at this stage is whether the conviction deserves to be stayed,” the bench had observed.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, who appeared for Gandhi, had said the Congress leader had suffered for 111 days, lost one Parliament session and is about to lose another session.
{{/usCountry}}Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, who appeared for Gandhi, had said the Congress leader had suffered for 111 days, lost one Parliament session and is about to lose another session.
{{/usCountry}}Singhvi said the only urgency is that by-election for Wayanad constituency from where Gandhi was elected and was later disqualified from Lok Sabha upon his conviction and two-year sentence in the defamation case, can be announced at any moment.
At the outset, Justice Gavai made it clear that his late father RS Gavai though not a Congress member was closely associated with the party for more than four decades and was a member of Parliament and MLA with its support. He said his brother is also a politician.
“If anyone has any problem with my background then please let me know,” Justice Gavai told Singhvi and senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for Purnesh Modi.
Both Singhvi and Jethmalani said that although they knew these facts, they don’t have any objection to Justice Gavai hearing this matter.
The apex court asked Jethmalani and counsel for the Gujarat government to file their replies along with written submissions.
Rahul Gandhi defamation case
On March 23, a Gujarat magisterial court convicted Gandhi for his remarks on the Modi surname after Purnesh Modi filed a criminal complaint. The Congress leader was sentenced to two-year imprisonment, which disqualified him as an MP from Kerala’s Wayanad under the Representation of People Act on March 24, following a notification from the Lok Sabha Secretariat.
Gandhi approached the sessions court, which rejected his plea for a stay on his conviction on April 20, compelling him to approach the high court.
The April 20 order cited Gandhi’s stature as an MP and former chief of the country’s second-largest political party and said he should have been more careful in his comments.
On July 7, the high court affirmed this order, rejecting Gandhi’s revision application seeking a stay on his conviction.
The high court judgment meant that Gandhi’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha will continue. While Gandhi cannot be arrested since his jail term remains suspended for now, only a stay on his conviction by the Supreme Court or a favourable judgment in his appeal by a sessions court can enable him to contest next year’s Lok Sabha elections.
The conviction and two-year jail term renders Gandhi unfit to enter either House of Parliament for eight years. But this can be reversed if he can get the conviction overturned or suspended by a higher court.
(With inputs from Utkarsh Anand in New Delhi)