New Delhi: After the Surat sessions court turned down his appeal, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday, April 25, moved the Gujarat high court challenging his conviction and sentence in a defamation case.
According to LiveLaw, the petition was moved in the high court challenging the Surat sessions court’s April 20 order which dismissed his application seeking a stay on his conviction.
On March 23, the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate sentenced Gandhi to two years in jail, finding him guilty of defamation for his remarks on the Modi surname that he made at an election rally in Karnataka in 2019. Subsequently, he was disqualified as an MP of the Lok Sabha.
The Surat Sessions Court granted Gandhi bail in the case until his appeal is disposed, but rejected his plea for a stay on the conviction. Had he succeeded in getting the stay, Gandhi’s membership of the Lok Sabha could have been restored.
The Surat court judge who heard Gandhi’s plea was Amit Shah’s lawyer in 2006, which raised questions about conflict of interest.
The offending statement, for which the Congress leader was found guilty of defamation, was: “I have a question. Why do all of them — all of these thieves — have Modi Modi Modi in their names? Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi. And if we search a bit more, many more such Modis will come out.”
The case was against him was filed by Purnesh Modi, who was a minister in Gujarat at the time, claiming that he had defamed the entire Modi community.