Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, July 18: The Supreme Court will hear Rahul Gandhi’s petition in the Modi surname defamation case on July 21. Congress veteran lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi has filed a petition demanding the cancellation of the Gujarat High Court’s decision to uphold Rahul Gandhi’s sentence. Notably, on July 7, the Gujarat High Court had dismissed the petition of Congress leader and former MP Rahul Gandhi in the Modi surname case.
It has been said in the petition that Modi is such an undefined group which has no shape. 13 crore people of this group live in different parts of the country and they belong to different communities. Clarified that under Section 499/500 of the Indian Penal Code, the offence of defamation has been considered only in relation to a defined group. It states that under section 499 of the IPC, the word Modi does not fall under any category of association or collection of people.
Rahul Gandhi was held guilty of criminal defamation by a Gujarat court for commenting on the Modi surname issue. He was sentenced to two years. In this sequence, Rahul’s membership in the Lok Sabha was lost. On May 2, Gujarat High Court reserved its decision on Rahul Gandhi’s petition after a bench hearing by Justice Hemant Prachhak.
In the May 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi had given a controversial statement related to the Modi surname. Referring to Lalit Modi, Nirav Modi in his speech, Rahul had asked why all thieves have Modi as their surname. After this statement, a case of criminal defamation was registered against Rahul in Gujarat.
