New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India will hear Friday a petition filed by former Congress President Rahul Gandhi against the Gujarat High Court’s verdict denying a stay on his conviction in the ‘Modi surname’ defamation case.
A bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra will hear Rahul Gandhi’s plea against the Gujarat High Court’s order refusing to stay his conviction and two-year jail term in a criminal defamation case, as per the cause list published on the apex court website.
The Supreme Court had on Tuesday agreed to hear Rahul Gandhi’s plea on July 21 after senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the former, sought urgent listing of the matter.
While denying him relief, Gujarat HC bench of Justice Hemant Prachchhak had observed that granting a stay on his conviction would be an exception, and not a rule. Rahul approached the Supreme Court challenging the order on July 15.
Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as MP after a Surat court convicted him and sentenced him to two years in prison for his comments made in a public rally in 2019.
The Congress leader was disqualified under a rule that bars convicted MPs from holding Lok Sabha membership. He was even asked to vacate his official bungalow.
Rahul had allegedly said, “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname”. The remark was interpreted as an attempt to draw an implicit connection between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and fugitive businessmen Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi.
In March, the sessions court in Surat had dismissed Rahul Gandhi’s plea seeking suspension of his conviction by the magistrate court, stating that his disqualification will not result in an irreversible loss to him.
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