In a massive relief to Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party as a whole ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the party leader’s conviction was stayed by the Supreme Court on Friday (August 4) in a criminal defamation case over the 'Modi surname' remark.
After the verdict, Rahul Gandhi’s membership in Lok Sabha, which was suspended by Speaker Om Birla, can now be restored. This implies that the Congress leader can now contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, which is a huge boost for the party with less than a year to go before the elections.
Supreme Court’s observations
The Supreme Court made some serious observations in its verdict, both on the Gujarat trial court and Rahul Gandhi.
The top court said that the ramifications of the trial court’s order are wide.
“Not only was Gandhi’s right to continue in public life affected but also that of the electorate who elected him,” SC said.
It further said that the trial court judge gave no reason for imposing a maximum sentence.
“No reason has been given by trial court judge for imposing maximum sentence, order of conviction needs to be stayed pending final adjudication,” SC said.
On Rahul Gandhi
Referring to Rahul Gandhi, the top court said that there is no doubt that the utterances were not in good taste.
“There is no doubt that utterances are not in good taste, the person in public life is expected to exercise caution while making public speeches,” SC said.
“As observed by this court while accepting his affidavit in the contempt petition, he (Rahul Gandhi) ought to have been more careful,” the top court added.
The top court was hearing a plea by Gandhi challenging the Gujarat High Court verdict which dismissed his plea seeking a stay on his conviction in a defamation case over his Modi surname remark.
Former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi had filed a criminal defamation case in 2019 against Gandhi over his "How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?" remark made during an election rally in Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019.
(With ANI inputs)
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