The Gujarat High Court Friday refused to stay the conviction and two-year jail term imposed on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by a Magistrate court in a criminal defamation case for his remark "All thieves have Modi surname" [Rahul Gandhi v Purnesh Modi].
Single-judge Justice Hemant Prachchhak said that staying conviction is not a rule and the same must only be exercised in rare cases.
"At least 10 criminal cases pending against him. Even after the present case, some more cases filed against him. Representatives of people should remain of clear character.One such is filed by grandson of Veer Savarkarin a court in Pune as accused used defamational (sic) terms against Veer Savarkar in Cambridge. In another case, complaints was also filed in a court in Lucknow," the judge said.
Further, the bench said that in the backdrop of the facts of the instant case, no case is made out to stay the conviction.
"In anyway, conviction would not result in any injustice to the applicant. The conviction order is just, proper and legal. There is no need to interfere with the said order. Therefore, the application is dismissed," the Court held.
Background
A sessions court in Surat had, on April 20, dismissed Gandhi's plea seeking suspension of his conviction by the Magistrate court.
In a detailed order, the sessions court held that Gandhi's disqualification would not amount to be an "irreparable or an irreversible loss" to him and refused interim relief to him.
The now disqualified parliamentarian from Wayanad, Kerala was convicted by a Magistrate court in Surat on March 23 for his remark "all thieves have Modi surname" which he had made at an election rally in Karnataka's Kolar constituency, in 2019.
Gandhi had, in his speech linked Prime Minister Narendra Modi with fugitives like Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi.
He had said,
"Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi. How come all the thieves have 'Modi' as a common surname?"
Purnesh Modi, a former BJP Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), took exception to the said speech claiming that Gandhi humiliated and defamed persons with the Modi surname.
The magistrate court in Surat accepted the contention of Modi that by his speech, Gandhi has intentionally insulted the people with a 'Modi' surname.
In his 168-page judgment, Judge Hadirash Varma said that since Gandhi is a Member of Parliament (MP), whatever he says will have a greater impact. Thus, he should have exercised restraint, the Magistrate ruled.
"The accused had taken the reference of the surname of the current Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, to satisfy his political greed and insulted and defamed 13 crore people living in the whole of India having the surname 'Modi'" the judge held.
The sessions judge refused to stay the Magistrate court conviction leading to the present plea before the High Court.
Gandhi had been disqualified from Lok Sabha due to his conviction in the case. The disqualification would continue as a result of today's order by the Gujarat High Court.
