Gujarat High Court upholds Rahul Gandhi's defamation conviction for 'Modi' surname comment.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was found guilty of
criminal defamation by a Magistrate court on Thursday and sentenced to two
years in prison for his statement “All thieves have Modi surname”. The Gujarat High Court refused to stay the
decision on Friday.

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Justice Hemant Prachchhak, sitting alone on the
case, opined that upholding Gandhi’s conviction would not be unfair.

Background

Gandhi’s request to have his sentence by the
Magistrate court put on hold was turned down by a sessions court in Surat on
April 20.

In a thorough order, the sessions court said that
Gandhi’s disqualification would not be a “irreparable or irreversible
loss” and denied him temporary relief.

A Magistrate court in Surat, India, found the member
of parliament from Wayanad, Kerala, guilty on March 23 for saying, “All
thieves have Modi surname” at an election gathering in Karnataka’s Kolar
constituency in 2019. This caused him to be kicked out of the parliament and
lose his seat.

Gandhi mentioned escapees like Nirav Modi and
Lalit Modi in his speech about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

It was said that he had referred to “Nirav
Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi.”How come every thief I know ends with
“Modi”?

Purnesh Modi, a former BJP Member of the Legislative
Assembly (MLA), didn’t like that speech. He said that Gandhi put down people
with the Modi surname and mocked them.

The judge court in Surat agreed with Modi’s claim
that Gandhi insulted people with the last name “Modi” on purpose in
his speech.

In his 168-page ruling, Judge Hadirash Varma said
that Gandhi’s words will carry more weight because he is a Member of Parliament
(MP). So, the Magistrate said, he should have been more careful.

“The accused used the last name of the current
Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, to satisfy his political desire and
insulted and mocked 13 crore people with the last name “Modi” who live
in India as a whole,” the judge said.

The session judge wouldn’t stop the sentence
from the Magistrate Court, so the case is now in the High Court.

Gandhi was dismissed from Lok Sabha because he
was found guilty in the case.

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