New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today moved to the Supreme Court challenging the Gujarat High Court’s refusal to stay his conviction in the criminal defamation case over his ‘Modi surname’ remarks. The conviction in the case led to his disqualification as Lok Sabha MP.
The criminal defamation case was filed by BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi, over a remark made by Gandhi during the 2019 Lok Sabha campaign.
The Gujarat high court had recently dismissed his review petition and refused to stay his conviction in the 2019 Modi surname defamation case.
If Rahul Gandhi’s conviction were stayed, he might have been reinstated in the Lok Sabha. The Gujarat high court in its final order on Friday said there are at least eight other criminal defamation complaints pending against Rahul Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi had moved the Gujarat High Court on April 25 challenging the Surat sessions court order which declined to stay his conviction in the criminal defamation case.
The High Court upheld the order of the lower court
Referring to persons like Lalit Modi, and Nirav Modi, Gandhi had allegedly asked “Why do all thieves have the same surname?”. Alleging that Gandhi’s remarks defamed the ‘entire Modi community’, BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi filed a defamation case against him.
