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Rahul Gandhi Defamation Case: The Supreme Court will hear on Friday (July 21) the petition of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the defamation case related to Modi surname. The hearing bench will consist of Justices BR Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra.
According to LiveLaw, Rahul Gandhi has challenged the Gujarat High Court’s order dismissing his plea seeking a stay of conviction (two years’ imprisonment).
What request was made by Rahul Gandhi’s counsel?
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for Rahul Gandhi last time, requested the petition to be listed on July 21 or July 24. After this, a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Manoj Mishra agreed to hear the petition. The bench had said that it would hear the matter on July 21.
What did Rahul Gandhi argue?
Rahul Gandhi has said in his petition filed in the Supreme Court on July 15 that if the order is not stayed, it will affect free speech, free expression, Free thought and free speech will be suffocated.
He said in his petition that if the High Court judgment is not stayed, it will systematically, repeatedly undermine democratic institutions and result in suffocation of democracy, which will be seriously detrimental to India’s political climate and future.
What is the matter?
Rahul Gandhi had remarked during an election rally in Kolar, Karnataka on April 13, 2019, that why all thieves have the same surname Modi? Purnesh Modi, a former Gujarat government minister and BJP leader, had filed a criminal defamation case against him for this remark.
Surat’s Metropolitan Magistrate Court on March 23 convicted Rahul Gandhi under sections 499 and 500 (criminal defamation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentenced him to two years in jail.
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