No relief for Rahul Gandhi in defamation case; verdict only in June

Gujarat High Court on Tuesday denied interim protection to Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi, who has sought to suspend his conviction and jail term in the 'All thieves have Modi surname' remark case.

Photo Credit: Rahul Gandhi

Justice Hemant Prachchhak of the High Court declined to grant any interim protection to Rahul on his plea seeking stay on conviction. The Court reserved its verdict on his plea seeking stay. The Court verdict likely to come after the vacation and it is expected to be in June.

Earlier on April 26, when Gandhi's lawyer P S Champaneri mentioned the case before Justice Gita Gopi, she recused herself from the hearing by saying "Not before me."

The development came a day after Gandhi moved the HC.

A metropolitan magistrate's court in Surat on March 23 sentenced the former Congress president to two years in jail after convicting him under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 499 and 500 (criminal defamation) in a 2019 case filed by Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Gujarat MLA Purnesh Modi.

Following the verdict, Gandhi, elected to the Lok Sabha from Wayanad in Kerala in 2019, was disqualified as a Member of Parliament (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 to the conviction. While granting him bail, the court on April 20 refused to stay the conviction.

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.

A stay to the conviction could pave the way for Gandhi's reinstatement as a Member of Parliament.