New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday reiterated in the Supreme Court that he will not be apologising for the remarks for which he has been found guilty of defamation, as he is not guilty of defamation.
“The petitioner maintains and has always maintained that he is not guilty of the offence and if he had to apologise and compound the offence, he would have done it much earlier,” Gandhi submitted in his rejoinder affidavit, according to Bar and Bench.
Speaking in Kolar before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, 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.”
A Surat court held him guilty of defamation in a case filed by BJP leader Purnesh Modi, and handed Gandhi the maximum two-year sentence – which resulted in his disqualification from the Lok Sabha. Gandhi’s appeal is now being heard in the Supreme Court, as the Gujarat high court refused to stay his conviction.
Purnesh Modi has filed a counter-affidavit in the Supreme Court, saying that that Gandhi had shown arrogance rather than been apologetic over his remark.
“Using the criminal process and the consequences under the Representation of Peoples’ Act to arm twist the petitioner into apologising for no fault, is gross abuse of the judicial process and ought not to be countenanced,” Gandhi submitted in response.
He continued, “There is no Modi samaj or community established on record and there are only Modi Vanika Samaj or Modh Ghanchi Samaj existing … [Complainant] has also admitted that the Modi surname falls under various other castes. There is also the admission that Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi and Mehul Choksi all do not fall within the same caste.”