NEW DELHI, AUG 4
In a shot in arm for the embattled Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the Supreme Court on Friday stayed his conviction in the defamation case. Rahul had challenged the Gujarat High Court verdict which dismissed his plea seeking a stay on his conviction in the case over his “Modi surname” remark.
A Supreme Court bench comprising Justices BR Gavai, PS Narasimha and Sanjay Kumar heard the Congress leader’s plea against his conviction in the Modi surname case. The case relates to a comment made by Rahul Gandhi in Kolar, Karnataka on April 13, 2019, when he said, “How come all thieves have Modi as common surname?” Senior Supreme Court advocates Mahesh Jethmalani and Abhishek Manu Singhvi appeared for complainant Purnesh Modi and Rahul Gandhi respectively.
- This is Rahul Gandhi’s last chance to get acquittal in order to attend the Parliament and contest elections, his lawyer Abhishek Singhvi had argued in the court
- The Congress called the judgment a strong vindication of truth and asserted that “no force can silence the voice of the people”
The Supreme Court, while granting relief to the Congress leader, said 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,” the bench said.
The top court also stated that no reason has been given by trial court judge for imposing maximum sentence, adding that the order of conviction needs to be stayed pending final adjudication.
While reading out the order, the apex court, however, said that the Congress leader ought to be more careful while making public statements. “There is no doubt that utterances are not in good taste, person in public life is expected to exercise caution while making public speeches. As observed by this court while accepting his affidavit in the contempt petition, he (Rahul Gandhi) ought to have been more careful,” SC said, according to a report by Live Law.
This is Rahul Gandhi’s last chance to get acquittal in order to attend the Parliament and contest elections, his lawyer Abhishek Singhvi had argued in the court.
During the hearing, the top court asked Rahul Gandhi’s lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi to present an exceptional case for a stay on the petitioner’s conviction. Singhvi argued that none of the individuals named by his client in his speech had filed lawsuits against him. He highlighted that only BJP office-holders were suing, suggesting a lack of uniformity and homogeneity within the community referred to in the statement, which comprises approximately 13 crore people.
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Singhvi emphasised that the offence was not of a severe nature like kidnapping, rape, or murder and questioned how it could be categorised as an offense involving moral turpitude. He stressed the importance of dissent and disagreement in a democracy, known as ‘shaleen bhasha’ (strong language of criticism). Singhvi added that Rahul Gandhi is not a hardened criminal and pointed out that many cases had been filed by BJP workers, but no convictions had been secured before.
Representing Purnesh Modi, the person who filed the criminal defamation case against Rahul Gandhi, senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani mentioned that the person who recorded the said speech was under the direction of the Election Commission of India to prevent violations of the model code of conduct, and a copy of the speech was also with the Election Commission.
The Congress called the judgment a strong vindication of truth and asserted that “no force can silence the voice of the people”. “Despite the relentless efforts of the BJPs machinery, Rahul Gandhi has refused to bend, break or bow, choosing instead to place his faith in the judicial process,” he posted on X.
“Let this be a lesson to the BJP and its acolytes: you can do your absolute worst but we will not back down. We will continue to expose and call out your failures as a Government and as a party. We will continue to uphold our Constitutional ideals and repose faith in our institutions which you so desperately want to destroy. Satyameva Jayate!” Ramesh said.
