Gandhi moved Supreme Court after the Gujarat High Court dismissed his plea on 7 July, upholding the lower court’s order.
Published Aug 04, 2023 | 2:40 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 04, 2023 | 2:40 PM
Rahul Gandhi speaking at an event in Wayanad. (X)
The Supreme Court on Friday, 4 August, stayed the conviction of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was disqualified from the Lok Sabha following his conviction by a Gujarat Court in the “Modi surname” defamation case.
The decision paves the way for Gandhi’s return to Parliament once the Lok Sabha Secretariat issues a notice reinstating his membership.
“Not only petitioner’s right to continue in public life affected, but also that of electorate’s who have elected him,” said Justice BR Gavai while imposing a stay on the conviction of Gandhi, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Wayanad in north Kerala.
The judge said the order of conviction needed to be stayed pending final adjudication.
Gandhi told the Supreme Court that the original surname of former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi, who filed a defamation case against him, is not Modi and he belongs to the Modh Vanika Samaj.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Gandhi, told a three-judge bench of Justices BR Gavai, PS Narasimha, and Sanjay Kumar that his client is not a hardened criminal and there is no conviction in any case despite several cases filed against him by BJP workers.
After hearing the arguments, Justice Gavai said that the trial court did not consider various factors before awarding the sentence since the “offence is non-cognisable, bailable, compoundable, trial judge is expected to give reasons for imposing maximum sentence”.
“It is to be noted only on account of this maximum sentence, provisions of the RP (Representation of People) Act have come into play. Had the sentence been a day lesser, provisions would not have been attracted,” he added.
“No doubt that utterances not in good taste, the person in public life is expected to exercise caution while making public speeches. As observed by this court while accepting his affidavit in contempt petition, he ought to have been more careful,” added the judge.
“Ramifications are wide. Not only petitioners’ right to continue in public life affected but also that of electorate’s who have elected him,” said Gavai as reported by LiveLaw.
“Taking into consideration these, and that no reason has been given by the trial judge for imposing maximum sentence, order of conviction needs to be stayed pending final adjudication,” he added.
Gandhi moved Supreme Court after the Gujarat High Court dismissed his plea on 7 July, upholding the lower court’s order.
In his appeal filed on 15 July, Gandhi said that if the 7 July judgement was not stayed, it would lead to the throttling of free speech, expression, thought, and statement.
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.
The case was filed against Rahul Gandhi on a complaint by Purnesh Modi for the 52-year-old Congress leader’s remarks at a public event.
Gandhi 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 maximum possible sentence in a defamation case, and also the minimum required to disqualify a convicted MP from the House.
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.
(With PTI inputs)
