Surat Court rejects Rahul Gandhi’s appeal for conviction stay in defamation case.

A
Surat sessions court on Thursday rejected Congress leader Rahul Gandh’s plea
for stay on his conviction in the Modi surname defamation case made four years
ago.
The
court of Additional Sessions Judge RP Mogera rejected Gandhi's plea for stay of
conviction.
A
metropolitan magistrate court in Surat on March 23 sentenced Gandhi to two
years in jail after convicting him under sections 499 and 500 of the Indian
Penal Code for criminal defamation in the case filed by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi.
Gandhi
was convicted for his remark "all thieves have Modi surname" which he
had made at an election rally in Karnataka's Kolar in 2019. He was then
disqualified as Member of Parliament under provisions of the Representation of
the People Act.
In
its order on Thursday, the additional session court also observed that Gandhi's
removal or disqualification as MP under section 8(3) of Representation of the
People Act, 1951 "cannot be termed as irreversible or irreparable loss or
damage."
"Any
defamatory words coming from the mouth of appellant are sufficient enough to
cause mental agony to an aggrieved person," the court of additional sessions
judge RP Mogera said in its order.
By
uttering defamatory words and comparing persons having 'Modi' surname with
thieves "would definitely have caused mental agony and harm the reputation
of complainant Purnesh Modi, who is socially active and dealing in
public," the court said.
"It
is not a disputed fact that the appellant was the Member of Parliament and
president of the second largest political party, and looking at such stature of
appellant, he should have been more careful with his words, which would have a
large impact on the mind of people," the court further stated.
The
court said the counsel for the appellant had failed to demonstrate that the
denial of an opportunity to him to contest the election by not staying his
conviction will cause him "irreversible and irrevocable damage." It
also rejected the argument of Gandhi's counsel that there cannot be defamation
against a community as such.
"Community
as such may not have a reputation, but the reputation will only be of
individual members. When the defamatory matter affects each and every member of
an ascertainable class or group, each of them or all of them could set the law
in motion," it said.
Looking
at the prima facie evidence and observations made by the trial court, it
transpires Gandhi had made certain derogatory remarks against Prime Minister
Narendra Modi in general public and further compared the persons having 'Modi'
surname with thieves, the court observed.
Moreover,
the complainant is ex-minister and involved in public life and such defamatory
remarks would have certainly harmed his reputation and caused him pain and
agony in society, the court added.
Objection
made by the appellant with regard to trial being vitiated due to lack of
territorial jurisdiction cannot be accepted at this stage, the additional
sessions court judge said.
Gandhi's
lawyer Kirit Panwala said the sessions court's order will be challenged in
Gujarat High Court.
In
his submission, Gandhi had said if the March 23 judgment of the trial court is
not suspended and stayed, it will cause irreparable damage to his reputation.
Gandhi
had said the excessive sentence is contrary to the law on the subject and
unwarranted in the present case which has overriding political overtones.
Gandhi
had termed his conviction as "harsh", "erroneous" and
"patently perverse" and said the trial court treated him harshly
after being overwhelmingly influenced by his status as an MP.
"The
appellant has been treated harshly at the stage of determination of sentence
taking into account his position as a Member of Parliament, hence the
far-reaching implications would have been in the knowledge of the trial
court," he said.
The
Congress leader had said he was sentenced in a manner so as to attract the
order of disqualification because the trial court was well aware of his status
as a parliamentarian.
Source-PTI
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