Defamation case: After Gujarat HC setback, Congress confident of relief for Rahul from apex court

Ahmedabad: Expressing displeasure over the Gujarat High Court's refusal to stay Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's conviction in a criminal defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark, the Opposition party on Friday said it will knock the Supreme Court's doors for relief.

While Gujarat Congress leaders claimed it was the BJP's conspiracy to stop Gandhi from raising uncomfortable issues in Parliament, the ruling party leader Purnesh Modi, who had filed the defamation suit, said the disqualified Lok Sabha MP should be sensitive towards others.

"Our legal team will take up this matter in the Supreme Court. Since Gandhi had made the statement in Karnataka (during 2019 polls), it was not under the jurisdiction of Surat court (where suit was filed). It is the right as well as responsibility of political leaders to speak if something wrong was happening. Speaking about (businessmen) Lalit Modi and Nirav Modi, who fled after looting the country's wealth, is not a crime," said Gujarat Congress president Shaktisinh Gohil.

Gohil, speaking after the HC ruling earlier in the day, maintained that in the past the apex court has provided relief to accused in different cases.

"This matter (defamation case) will definitely go till the Supreme Court. In 2016, a court in Amreli convicted sitting MP Naran Kachhadiya for assaulting a Dalit doctor. Later, the SC gave him relief, saying 'though it was a serious crime, the conviction should not stop him from carrying out his responsibilities as a people's representative'," he added.

Giving another example, the Congress leader said a court in Kerala gave relief to a Member of Parliament in a case of attempted murder.

"I am confident the SC will give similar relief to Rahul Gandhi," said the Rajya Sabha MP.

According to senior Congress MLA Amit Chavda, the HC verdict has hurt the feelings of all those citizens who believe in democracy and the Constitution.

"As soon as Rahulji started questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his autocratic regime, be it on Chinese intrusion into Indian territory or black money being invested in Adani entities, a conspiracy was hatched by the BJP to expel our leader from Parliament so that he can not raise those issues," said Chavda.

Hitting out at the BJP, he said several cases based on Gandhi's remarks were lodged to stop him from raising critical issues in Parliament.

"To stop Rahul Gandhi from raising issues in Parliament, several such cases were lodged in different parts of the country as part of a conspiracy by the BJP. The way courts are delivering adverse judgements, it appears autocracy will take over the country's democracy. We trust the judiciary and we will knock on the doors of the Supreme Court," said the Congress Legislature Party leader.

BJP legislator Purnesh Modi, on whose complaint the Surat metropolitan court had convicted Gandhi and handed him over two-year jail term, leading to his disqualification from the Lok Sabha, said the Congress leader should now do an introspection.

Gandhi, elected to the Lok Sabha from Wayanad in Kerala in 2019, had sought a stay on the conviction in the HC.

"I was the vice-president of the Gujarati Modh Modi Community in 2019 when Rahul Gandhi said at a rally in Karnataka 'why do all thieves have Modi as surname'? Since it was an insult to our entire community, we filed a defamation suit in a Surat court," said Purnesh Modi, a BJP MLA from Surat.

The former state minister welcomed the HC ruling.

"We welcome the High Court's verdict. Since the court has also observed that Gandhi has several such cases of defamation across the country, he needs to do an introspection and ponder upon it. He should be sensitive towards others," he added.

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).

Following the verdict, Gandhi was disqualified as a Member of Parliament (MP) under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act.

Gandhi then challenged the order in a sessions court in Surat, which is still pending, along with an application seeking a stay to the conviction. While granting him bail, the sessions court on April 20 refused to stay the conviction, following which, he approached the HC.

The former Congress president made the "how come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?" remark at an election rally at Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019.