'Modi' surname defamation case: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi moves SC for stay on conviction
New Delhi, July 15: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has filed petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Gujarat High Court's decision to reject his request for a stay on his conviction in Modi surname defamation case.
The conviction had resulted in his disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha. Rahul Gandhi is now seeking legal recourse at the highest judicial level to contest the Gujarat High Court's ruling.
The Gujarat High Court had on July 7 affirmed the decision of a Gujarat Sessions court, which had refused to put on hold a magisterial court order on March 23 convicting Rahul Gandhi and handing out the maximum punishment provided for criminal defamation under the Indian Penal Code.
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Rejecting Rahul Gandhi’s plea, the High Court has said that "he has been seeking a stay on his conviction on “absolutely non-existent grounds” and a stay on conviction is not a rule but an exception.
In March, the magisterial court had convicted Rahul Gandhi for his remarks ahead of the 2019 national polls about the ‘Modi’ surname. After magisterial court convicted Rahul Gandhi, he approached the Sessions Court, which rejected his plea for a stay on his conviction on April 20. Thereafter, he approached the High Court.
- With inputs from agencies
