- Saturday, March 01, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
A sessions court in Surat in the western Indian state of Gujarat on Thursday (13) reserved its verdict while hearing an appeal seeking a stay on Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s conviction by the magistrate court in a criminal defamation case, saying the order will be given on April 20.
According to a report by the Bar and Bench, judge Robin Mogera heard Gandhi and the complainant, Purnesh Modi, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker in Gujarat, before reserving the verdict.
On March 23, a metropolitan magistrate’s court in Surat had sentenced Gandhi to two years in prison after holding him guilty over the remark “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname” uttered at an election rally in Kolar in the southern state of Karnataka in April 2019.
The politician seemed to attack prime minister Modi by clubbing him with fugitive Indian businessmen Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi.
The next day, Gandhi was disqualified as a member of Lok Sabha or Lower House of the Indian parliament, where he represented the southern state of Kerala, under provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
On April 3, the court granted Gandhi bail and agreed to keep hearing on his plea for a stay on conviction on Thursday after issuing a notice to Purnesh Modi and the government of Gujarat.
If Gandhi does not get a stay from a higher court, he will not be able to contest elections for eight years.
