A Supreme Court Bench, headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, has agreed to hear Rahul Gandhi’s petition against Gujarat High Court order on July 21. In the petition, Rahul Gandhi sought to suspend his conviction in a criminal defamation case.
Representing Rahul Gandhi before the Supreme Court Bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice PV Narsimha and Justice Manoj Mishra, senior advocate A.M. Singhvi and advocate Prasanna S. emphasised the urgency of the case. Chief Justice Chandrachud responded, “We will take it up on Friday.”
However, BJP MLA Purnesh Modi has filed a caveat in the Supreme Court. The Gujarat High Court’s single judge bench, on July 7, dismissed Gandhi’s plea seeking a stay on his conviction in the defamation case. According to the Supreme Court sources, Purnesh Modi, through his lawyer P S Sudheer, has filed a caveat in the apex court.
Gujarat High Court Justice Hemant Prachhak, while rejecting his petition, had remarked, “It is the need of the hour to have purity in politics now.”
The court further emphasised that public representatives should have a “clear antecedent” and that a stay on conviction is not the norm but an exception granted only in rare cases. It found no reasonable grounds to stay Gandhi’s conviction.
A stay on Gandhi’s conviction would have allowed him to be reinstated as a Lok Sabha MP. In response, the Congress announced that it will approach the Supreme Court against the verdict.
Purnesh Modi, a former minister in the Gujarat government, had filed a criminal defamation case in 2019 against Rahul Gandhi for his remark, “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?” made during an election rally in Kolar, Karnataka, on April 13, 2019.
