'Only Narendra Modi Could Have Filed Defamation Complaint, Case Politically Motivated': Rahul Gandhi's Appeal In Surat Court

As reported by LiveLaw earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has moved an appeal before the Surat Sessions Court challenging his conviction and sentence by a magistrate court in Surat in a defamation case over his 'Modi Surname' remark. 

In his appeal, he has argued that his speech in question (why all thieves share the Modi surname) was in connection with Narendra Modi, Nirav Modi, and Lalit Modi and not the Modi community as a whole.

The appeal was filed through a legal team of Senior Advocate R. S. Cheema, Advocate Kirit Panwala and Advocate Tarannum Cheema submits that there is no particular group of Modis that has been referred to in the impugned defamatory statement as distinguished from the rest of the Modis.

"Modis are 13 crores and obviously as per the ratio of the aforesaid judgments all 13 crore people will not have a right to file the complaint because it is not identifiable, definite, determinate group or collection of persons, so even if the respondent/complainant is Modi, he can't file a complaint because 'Modi' is not a small, well-defined, determinate, definite body as distinguished from rest of Modis," the plea states.

He has also submitted that the complainant (BJP MLA Purnesh Modi) is not the aggrieved person and that if at all, a complaint was maintainable, it had to be moved by Narendra Modi himself, as he was the person who was referred to by Gandhi in his 2019 speech.

"...for the alleged imputations against Shri Narendra Modi individually, only Shri Narendra Modi can be considered as the person aggrieved of the offence of defamation and only Shri Narendra Modi can file a complaint for the same and Shri Purnesh Modi the respondent/complainant has no right to file the complaint on his behalf and so the complaint for the alleged defamatory imputations against Shri Narendra Modi by the complaint is not sustainable," the plea states.

The plea categorically submits that the BJP MLA Purnesh Modi is not the aggrieved person for the purposes of Section 499 IPC just because he was shocked at Gandhi's statements.

Gandhi, presently a disqualified MP, has moved the appeal 10 days after he was sentenced to 2-year imprisonment by a Surat Court. The order came on a complaint of BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi Purnesh Modi filed under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code against Rahul Gandhi for his alleged remarks stating claiming that he had defamed all people with the ‘Modi’ surname while addressing a rally at Kolar in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The appeal further states that Gandhi had been treated harshly by the Magistrate Court both on the merits of the controversy as well as at the stage of determination of sentence taking into account his position as a Member of Parliament.

Gandhi further argues that he, being a Parliamentarian in opposition, is expected, rather, required to be vigilant and critical of the Government and therefore, such a politician in opposition cannot always weigh his words in golden scales.

"Hence it is incumbent upon the courts to focus on the essence and spirit of the speech made rather than on the tone and tenor. The Ld. Trial Court has missed the import of the above principle both at the stage of appreciation of evidence and also at the stage of sentencing," the plea submits.