AHMEDABAD: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi moved the Gujarat High Court challenging the Surat sessions court order dismissing his plea for a stay of conviction in the “Modi surname” criminal defamation case on Tuesday.
Rahul’s lawyer Pankaj Champaneri stated, “Today we filed a petition in the Gujarat High Court against the order of the Surat Court Criminal Case 20/04 23. We have appealed for a stay against the judgment of the Surat Sessions Court as well as a stay against the sentence in the petition.”
Importantly on April 20, 2023, in a criminal defamation case involving Rahul Gandhi’s “Modi surname” statement, a Surat sessions court rejected Gandhi’s request for a stay on defamation conviction. Additional Sessions Judge Robin Mogera refused to stay the conviction. Today, the Congress leader filed an appeal against the Surat court’s decision.
While rejecting Gandhi’s Petition, the Surat sessions court, said, “Rahul should have been more careful with his words that would have a large impact on people’s minds”. Mogera found merit in former BJP minister Purnesh Modi suing Rahul for defamation, saying, “Such defamatory remarks would have harmed his reputation and caused him pain in society.”
Judge Mogera said the SC had, in a number of pronouncements, held that the powers accorded under Section 389 (1) of the CrPC to suspend/ stay the conviction needs to be exercised with caution, or it would impact public perception.
Previously, the sessions court granted Gandhi bail and postponed his two-year jail sentence, which was imposed by a metropolitan magistrate court on March 23, until the outcome of his appeal seeking a stay of his conviction.
