Supreme Court stays Rahul Gandhi's conviction in Modi surname defamation case, restores MP status
Supreme Court hears plea by Rahul Gandhi challenging defamation conviction for "Modi surname" remark. Gandhi refuses to apologize.
Rahul Gandhi's conviction in a criminal defamation case stemming from his remark about the "Modi surname" was stayed by the Supreme Court on Friday, restoring his position as a member of Parliament.
Gandhi's comment, "How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?" made during an election rally at Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019, led Purnesh Modi, a former minister in the Gujarat government, to launch a criminal defamation lawsuit against Gandhi in 2019.
Senior attorney Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who was representing Gandhi, said that the action brought by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi against the Congressman was odd because none of the people he had mentioned in his speech had sued.
"Interestingly, the sole plaintiffs in this case are BJP office holders out of the entire 13 crore community of the allegedly wronged.He remarked, "Very unusual.
"In that 13 crore, there is no homogeneity, uniformity, identifiability, or border line...First thing is that. Second, as [Purnesh Modi] acknowledged, "Modi was not my original surname," according to Live Law.
Mahesh Jethmalani, a seasoned attorney who was representing Purnesh Modi, stated that since the appeal is still ongoing before the sessions court, the petitioner must have a compelling argument before the court will overturn the sentence without reevaluating the facts.
Given that the petitioner's conviction rendered the Wayanad constituency unrepresented, Justice BRGavai considered whether this was a pertinent consideration because it was affecting the electorate's right to vote.The trial judge, according to Gavai, needs to justify his decision to impose the worst sentence.
"One of the factors is.. is it not a ground if a constituency in parliament is not represented?The trial judge did not hint that the maximum punishment should be given.According to BarandBench, Justice Gavai stated that you are not just impacting the rights of one person but also the entire electorate of a constituency.
Rahul Gandhi once again refused to apologize for his remark on the Modi surname in an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, which resulted in his conviction in the defamation case and subsequent disqualification from the Parliament. Instead, he sought the Supreme Court to stay his sentence on the grounds that he is innocent.
"Arm-twisting the Petitioner into making an apology for no fault by using the criminal procedure and the penalties under the Representation of People Act is a blatant abuse of the legal system and should not be tolerated by this Court.
Gandhi stated in the affidavit that if he had to apologize and compound the offense, he would have done so much earlier. "The petitioner maintains and has always maintained that he is not guilty of offence and that the conviction is unsustainable."
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