The statement came soon after the Gujarat HC dismissed the plea, upholding the lower court's order, describing it as 'just, proper and legal'.
Rahul Gandhi speaking at an event in Wayanad. (X)
The Congress on Friday, 7 July, said it would move an appeal before the Supreme Court challenging the Gujarat High Court order dismissing party leader Rahul Gandhi’s plea seeking a stay on his conviction in a criminal defamation case over his “Modi surname” remark.
The party’s General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said, “There is one more option before us… the Supreme Court. Let’s see. The Congress party will seek that option too.”
Venugopal said this while addressing a party programme organised in Kozhikode district of northern Kerala.
His statement came soon after the Gujarat High Court dismissed Gandhi’s plea, upholding the lower court’s order.
While dismissing the plea, Justice Hemant Prachchhak noted that Gandhi was already facing 10 criminal cases across India, adding that the order of the lower court was “just, proper and legal” in handing out a two-year jail term to Gandhi for his remarks.
A stay of the conviction would have paved the way for Gandhi’s reinstatement as a Member of Parliament.
“He (Gandhi) was trying to stay the conviction on absolutely non-existent grounds. It is a well-settled principle of law that staying of conviction is not a rule, but an exception, resorted only in rare cases. Disqualification is not only limited to MPs, MLAs. Moreover, as many as 10 criminal cases are pending against the applicant,” the high court said.
“After this complaint, another complaint was filed in a court in Pune by the grandson of Veer Savarkar for Gandhi’s defamatory utterance against Veer Savarkar at Cambridge. Another complaint against him was filed in the concerned court of Lucknow,” it said.
In this backdrop, refusal of stay on conviction would not in any way result in injustice to the applicant, the judge said.
“Impugned order passed by the appellate court is just, proper and legal, and does not call for any interference. However, it is hereby requested by the concerned learned district judge to decide the criminal appeal on its own merits and in accordance with the law as expeditiously as possible.
“In view of the above, the present criminal revision application deserved to be dismissed and accordingly it is dismissed,” the judge while reading the order.
While noting that there was no reasonable ground to stay the conviction at this stage, Justice Prachchhak also directed the district and sessions court of Surat to hear Gandhi’s appeal against the conviction “as expeditiously as possible”.
The case was filed against Rahul Gandhi on a complaint by Purnesh Modi for the 52-year-old Congress leader’s remark, “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?”
The disqualified MP made the comment on the “Modi surname” while addressing a rally at Kolar in Karnataka on 13 April, 2019, during the campaign for the Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress leader, elected to the Lok Sabha from Wayanad in Kerala in 2019, was convicted on 23 March by the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Varma and sentenced to two years in jail.
The magistrate’s court granted him bail the same day and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court.
A day after his conviction and sentence, he was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha. Several Opposition parties decried the haste at which he was disqualified, not allowing him time to appeal.
He moved the high court after a court in Gujarat’s Surat city rejected the application for a stay on his conviction on 20 April.
Following the court order, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said in a tweet that truth would prevail.
"समर शेष है, जनगंगा को खुल कर लहराने दो
शिखरों को डूबने और मुकुटों को बह जाने दो
पथरीली ऊँची जमीन है? तो उसको तोड़ेंगे
समतल पीटे बिना समर की भूमि नहीं छोड़ेंगे
समर शेष है, चलो ज्योतियों के बरसाते तीर
खण्ड-खण्ड हो गिरे विषमता की काली जंजीर"श्री राहुल गांधी जी इस अहंकारी सत्ता के…
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) July 7, 2023
Meanwhile, noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan claimed that the high court not staying the conviction of Rahul Gandhi showed the weakness of the Gujarat judiciary.
The refusal of the Gujarat HC to stay the ridiculous conviction of Rahul Gandhi for defamation (due to which he has been disqualified from Parliament), exposes the weakness of the Gujarat judiciary. Hopefully, the Supreme Court will set this right.
— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) July 7, 2023
Telangana Congress chief A Revanth Reddy said in tweet that Gandhi would emerge stronger and that truth would prevail.
🔥Remember this press conference where shri #RahulGandhi explains the reason for his disqualification.
🔥This will not stop him but he will emerge stronger & in the end only
TRUTH will TRIUMPH.SATYAMEVA JAYATE#GujaratHighCourt pic.twitter.com/LH3wpcRSoZ
— Revanth Reddy (@revanth_anumula) July 7, 2023
However, the BJP claimed that Gandhi was given a chance to apologise but he did not.
I want to ask Congress that why can't it control Rahul Gandhi?
…why can't it train him to speak right?
When given a chance by the trial court in Surat to apologise, Rahul Gandhi rather chose to remark, 'I am not Savarkar that I will apologise'.
This truly shows the extent…
— BJP (@BJP4India) July 7, 2023
(With PTI inputs)
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