New Delhi [India], July 12 : Purnesh Ishwerbhai Modi, the complainant who filed a defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Gujarat, has filed a caveat in the Supreme Court in the matter pertaining to the Gujarat High Court decision denying to stay Rahul Gandhi's conviction in the defamation case against 'Modi surname' remark.
Purnesh Ishwerbhai Modi also wants to be heard in the case when the apex court takes up Gandhi’s appeal against the Gujarat High Court's decision declining to stay his conviction in a defamation case.
A Caveat application is filed by a litigant to ensure that no adverse order is passed against them without being heard.
Gujarat High Court on Friday upheld the Sessions Court's order and denied a stay on his conviction in the defamation case against the 'Modi surname' remark. As there is the possibility that Rahul Gandhi will challenge the petition in Supreme Court, Purnesh Ishwerbhai Modi has filed a caveat in the top court so that he must be heard before the top court passed any direction if the matter is heard.
The Gujarat HC court had refused to grant any interim relief to Rahul Gandhi. The Congress leader had moved the Gujarat High Court on April 25 challenging the Surat sessions court order which declined to stay his conviction in the criminal defamation case. The Surat sessions court had on April 20 rejected Rahul Gandhi's plea seeking a stay on his conviction by the lower court in the criminal defamation case.
In his judgement, Additional sessions judge Robin P Mogera had cited Gandhi's stature as an MP and former chief of the country's second-largest political party and said he should have been more careful. He cited prima facie evidence and observations of the trial court and said it transpires that Rahul Gandhi Gandhi made certain derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi apart from comparing people with the same surname with thieves.
He cited the disqualification criteria under the Representation of the People Act and added that removal or disqualification as MP could not be termed irreversible or irreparable loss or damage to Gandhi. Following his conviction by a lower court in the criminal defamation case, Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as Lok Sabha MP. He had been elected to Lok Sabha from Wayanad in Kerala.
The lower court sentenced the Congress leader to two years in jail on March 23 under sections 499 and 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in a case filed by Purnesh Modi. At a rally in Karnataka's Kolar in April 2019, Rahul Gandhi, in a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said, "How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?".Following the session's court verdict, Congress had said it will move the Gujarat High Court.
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