Rahul Gandhi moves Indian SC over conviction

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Gujarat High Court ruling refusing to stay his conviction in a criminal defamation case over his remark “why all thieves have Modi surname”.

Rahul’s conviction by a trial court in Surat, Gujarat, in the case led to his disqualification as Lok Sabha member, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

The criminal defamation case against Rahul, 53, was filed by Gujarat state’s legislator Purnesh Modi for the Congress leader’s remark made at a rally during the 2019 Lok Sabha campaign in the southern state of Karnataka.

Purnesh Modi alleged that Rahul Gandhi’s remark had defamed the entire Modi community.

On March 23, the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Surat, convicted and sentenced Rahul to two years imprisonment, following which he was disqualified as a lawmaker.

However, Rahul’s sentence was suspended and he was also granted bail on the same day so that he could appeal against his conviction within 30 days.

On April 3, Rahul Gandhi moved the Surat Sessions Court challenging his conviction and also seeking a stay on his conviction, which was rejected by the Gujarat high court on April 20.

In rejecting Rahul’s plea for a stay on his conviction, Gujarat High Court Justice Hemant Prachchhak had stated that “the present conviction is a serious matter affecting a large segment of society and needs to be viewed by this court with the gravity and significance it commands… It is now the need of the hour to have purity in politics.”