Modi surname case: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday moved the Supreme Court challenging the Gujarat High Court’s order that refused to stay his conviction in the criminal defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark. The appeal was filed by Gandhi through advocate on record Prasanna S.
The Congress leader approached the apex court a week after the High Court refused to stay his conviction in a criminal defamation case, stating that if the judgment is not stayed, it would lead to throttling of free speech, free expression, free thought, and free statement.
'Gravely detrimental to the political climate'
Gandhi in his appeal said, “If the high court verdict is not stayed it would contribute to the systematic, repetitive emasculation of democratic institutions and the consequent strangulation of democracy which would be gravely detrimental to the political climate and future of India.”
He said that a political speech in the course of democratic political activity, critical of economic offenders, and also of (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi, has been held to be an act of moral turpitude inviting the harshest punishment.
"Such a finding is gravely detrimental to democratic free speech in the midst of a political campaign. It is respectfully submitted that the same will set a disastrous precedent wiping out any form of political dialogue or debate which is remotely critical in any manner. The phrase ‘moral turpitude’ has been misapplied to a case which is not one relating to any heinous offense (e.g., murder, rape or other immoral activity) and ex facie cannot apply to an offense where the legislature thought it fit to provide for a maximum punishment of only 2 years", Gandhi’s appeal said.
Gujarat HC upheld sessions court order
Earlier on July 7, the Gujarat High Court upheld the sessions court order denying a stay to Rahul Gandhi's conviction in the defamation case. While dismissing the plea, Justice Hemant Prachchhak noted that Gandhi is already facing 10 cases across India, adding the order of the lower court was 'just, proper and legal' in convicting the Congress leader.
In May, Justice Prachchhak, while hearing Gandhi's plea, had refused to grant any interim relief saying it will pass a final order after the summer vacation, which ended three weeks back.
During a hearing on April 29, Gandhi's lawyer had argued that a maximum punishment of two years for a bailable, non-cognisable offence meant his client could lose his Lok Sabha seat "permanently and irreversibly", which was a "very serious additional irreversible consequence to the person and the constituency he represents".
A metropolitan magistrate's court in Surat sentenced the former Congress president to two years in jail on March 23 after convicting him under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 499 and 500 (criminal defamation) in a 2019 case filed by Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Purnesh Modi.
Rahul Gandhi disqualified as MP
Following the verdict, Gandhi, elected to the Lok Sabha from Wayanad in Kerala, was disqualified as MP under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act.
Gandhi challenged the order in a sessions court in Surat along with an application seeking a stay on the conviction. While granting him bail, the court, on April 20, refused to stay the conviction, after which he approached the HC.
Surat West MLA Purnesh Modi 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.
(With PTI inputs)
