New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday (August 4) stayed the conviction of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case against him. A Surat court had earlier found him guilty and handed him the maximum sentence of two years’ imprisonment – leading to his disqualification from the Lok Sabha. The Gujarat high court had refused to stay the conviction, after which Gandhi had appealed in the Supreme Court.
With the Supreme Court staying Gandhi’s conviction, his disqualification also now stands in abeyance.
The apex court order questioned the sentence handed to Gandhi by the lower court. A bench of Justices B.R. Gavai, P.S. Narasimha and P.V. Sanjay Kumar said that the trial court did not give specific reasons for imposing the maximum punishment under the offence.
LiveLaw quoted the order as saying:
“The sentence for an offence punishable under Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code is maximum of two years of sentence or fine or both. The learned trial judge, in the order passed by him, has awarded the maximum sentence of two years. Except the admonition to the petitioner by this Court in a contempt proceeding, no other reason has been granted by the learned trial judge while imposing the maximum sentence of two years. It is to be noted that it is only on account of the maximum sentence of two years imposed by the learned trial judge that the provisions of Section 8(3) of the Representation of Peoples Act came into play. Had the sentence been a day lesser, then the provisions would not have attracted.
Particularly when the offence was non-compoundable, bailable and cognizable, the least which was expected from the learned trial judge was to give reasons for imposing the maximum punishment. Though the learned appellate court and the High Court have spent voluminous pages in rejecting the applications, these aspects are not seen considered.”
The Supreme Court, however, also said that Gandhi’s remarks in Kolar before the 2019 elections – for which the case was filed – were “not in good taste”. Gandhi had said, “I have a question. Why do all these thieves have Modi in their names whether it is Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi or Narendra Modi? We don’t know how many more such Modis will come out.”
BJP leader Purnesh Modi had filed a defamation case against Gandhi, saying that he had defamed the ‘Modi community’. Gandhi has maintained that he is not guilty and so will not apologise, while also arguing that there is no one community of all people who share the Modi surname.
Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who also represented Gandhi in the courts, said that the Supreme Court order is not merely a victory for Gandhi, but also for the constitution, democracy, and people in general, and all those who have shown courage and conviction in the face of an all-round attack on the Indian democracy and constitution.
He said that by not leapfrogging from the first appellate court, [and going] directly to the Supreme Court, Gandhi has shown faith in the Indian judiciary and institutions of the country, and led by example.
“Rahul Gandhi has time and again demonstrated courage and conviction. His actions, his words have all been animated by his thinking, which is daro mat (fear not),” said Singhvi.
Addressing a press briefing, leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, said that he has already met Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla and urged him to reinstate Gandhi as the MP of Wayanad with “the same speed in which he was disqualified as an member of the house”.
This story, which was published on August 4 at 1:54 pm, has been republished with quotes of Congress leaders on the same day at 6:45 pm.