Supreme Court Bench Of Justices BR Gavai & PK Mishra To Hear Rahul Gandhi's Plea To Stay Conviction In Defamation Case Tomorrow

Supreme Court bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra will hear tomorrow Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's plea to stay conviction in the criminal defamation case.

Gandhi has approached the Supreme Court challenging the Gujarat High Court's order dismissing his application to stay the conviction in the criminal case. The conviction in the case led to his disqualification as a Member of Parliament.

The criminal defamation case was filed over a remark made by Gandhi during the 2019 Lok Sabha campaign. Referring to persons like Lalit Modi, Nirav Modi, Gandhi had asked "why all thieves have the same surname?".

On March 23, 2023, the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Surat convicted and sentenced Gandhi to 2 years imprisonment, following which he was disqualified as a member of Lok Sabha. However, his sentence was suspended, and he was also granted bail on the same day to enable him to move an appeal against his conviction within 30 days.

On April 3, Gandhi approached the Surat Sessions Court assailing his conviction and further seeking a stay on his conviction, which was rejected on April 20. However, Surat Sessions Court on April 3 granted bail to Gandhi till the disposal of his appeal.

Dismissing Gandhi's revision plea, the Gujarat High Court observed that the case against Gandhi concerns a large identifiable class (Modi Community) and not just an individual.