BREAKING| Gujarat High Court To Pronounce Order Tomorrow On Rahul Gandhi's Plea To Suspend Conviction In Defamation Case

The Gujarat High Court will pronounce order tomorrow in Rahul Gandhi's plea to stay the conviction in the criminal defamation case in 'Modi Surname' case. The conviction in the case resulted in his disqualification as a Member of Parliament.

Justice Hemant Prachchhak reserved order on the stay application on May 2. 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?".

Alleging that Gandhi's comment defamed the entire Modi community, BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi filed a criminal defamation case against him.

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 the 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 disposal of his appeal.