On Tuesday, the Supreme Court agreed to list on Friday the petition filed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi seeking a stay of his conviction in the criminal defamation case over the ‘Modi-thieves’ remark, which resulted in his disqualification as a Member of Parliament.
Senior Advocate Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned Gandhi’s petition before Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud for urgent listing. CJI agreed to list on Friday that Gandhi has filed the special leave petition challenging the Gujarat High Court’s refusal to stay his conviction in the criminal defamation case.
The criminal defamation case was filed over a remark made by Gandhi during the 2019 Lok Sabha campaign. Referring to persons like Lalit Modi, and Nirav Modi, Gandhi had asked “Why do 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.
The Court added that being a senior leader of the oldest political party in India and a “prominent figure in the realm of the Indian political landscape”, Gandhi is vested with a duty to ensure that the dignity and reputation of a large number of persons or any identifiable class are not “jeopardized” due to his political activities or utterances.
Significantly, the HC also took note of other complaints pending against Gandhi, including one filed by the grandson of Vir Savarkar in the Pune Court. The HC noted that in the alleged speech, Gandhi used defamation utterances against Vir Savarkar at Cambridge University.
Rahul Gandhi’s Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court has been drawn by Advocate Tarannum Cheema and S Prasanna and settled by Senior Advocates Prashant Kumar Sen, Harin P Raval, R S Cheema, and re-settled by Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
