Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, July 7: The Gujarat High Court today dismissed Congress leader and Former MP Rahul Gandhi’s review plea to stay the conviction in the criminal defamation case in the ‘Modi Thieves’ remark case, reports Live Law.
“(Gandhi) is seeking a stay on conviction on absolutely non-existent grounds. Stay on conviction is not a rule. As many as 10 cases are pending against (Gandhi). It is needed to have purity in politics…A complaint has been filed against (Gandhi) by the grandson of Veer Savarkar in Pune Court after Gandhi used terms against Veer Savarkar at Cambridge…Refusal to stay conviction would not in any way result in injustice to the applicant. There are no reasonable grounds to stay conviction. The conviction is just, proper and legal,” the bench of Justice Hemant Prachchhak observed as he pronounced the order today.
Earlier on May 2, he had reserved the verdict in the matter after hearing the parties at length.
The criminal defamation case was filed over a remark made by Gandhi during the 2019 Lok Sabha campaign. Referring to persons like Lalit Modi, Nirav Modi, Gandhi had asked “why all thieves have the same surname?”.
Alleging that Gandhi’s comment defamed the entire Modi community, BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi filed a criminal defamation case against him.
Gandhi has maintained that there was no malafide intention on his part when he made the statement in question.
On March 23, 2023, the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Surat convicted and sentenced Gandhi to 2 years imprisonment, following which he was disqualified as a member of Lok Sabha. However, his sentence was suspended, and he was also granted bail on the same day to enable him to move an appeal against his conviction within 30 days.
On April 3, Gandhi approached the Surat Sessions Court assailing his conviction and further seeking a stay on his conviction, which was rejected on April 20. However, Surat Sessions Court on April 3 granted bail to Gandhi till the disposal of his appeal. (Courtesy: Live Law)
