The Gujarat High Court on July 7, 2023, refused to stay the conviction and suspend two years jail term awarded to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the criminal defamation case in which he has been sentenced to two years in jail by a court in Surat.
The case was related to remarks about the the Modi surname during a rally in 2019 where he said “All thieves have Modi surname”while campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka.
After he was convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment in March this year, he was disqualified as a Member of Parliament from Lok Sabha.
While dismissing the plea, Justice Hemant Prachchhak noted that Gandhi is already facing 10 cases across India, adding the order of the lower court was “just, proper and legal” in convicting the Congress leader. The HC noted that there is no reasonable ground to stay the conviction.
As a result of this verdict Rahul will be unable to contest elections or seek revocation of his Member of Parliament status, necessitating his approach to the Supreme Court to challenge this order.
The verdict was delivered by Justice Hemant Prachchhak at 11 am.
