On defamation case Rahul Gandhi moves Gujarat High Court

NEW DELHI: After the Surat Sessions Court rejected former Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s plea to stay his sentence in the criminal defamation case, he has now moved to the Gujarat High Court.

Gandhi’s appeal was filed by advocate Pankaj Champaneri on April 25.

The Surat sessions court had earlier rejected Rahul Gandhi’s plea to stay the conviction in the criminal defamation case filed against the Congress leader by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi. He had argued that the magistrate’s court had treated him harshly.
On March 23, 2023, Rahul Gandhi was sentenced to two years in prison for his 2019 comment, “How come all thieves are surnamed Modi?”

However, on April 20, Additional Sessions Judge Robin Mogera rejected the argument that Modi’s complaint was not maintainable.
In its 27-page order, the court said, “Rahul Gandhi has failed to show that he would suffer irreparable and irreparable harm by not staying on the sentence and being denied the opportunity to contest the election.”

The judge said that Modi is a former minister of Gujarat and is involved in public life, so Gandhi’s defamatory remarks must have damaged his reputation and must have caused him pain and suffering.