It’s been more than three weeks since the Gujarat High Court reopened after the summer vacation, but the judgment on the most high-profile case of former Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in a defamation case is still awaited.
On May 2, while hearing Mr. Gandhi’s plea seeking interim relief for a stay on his conviction by a Surat court, the High Court declined to grant any relief and said that it would give its final order when it reopens after the summer vacation on June 5.
Justice H.M. Prachchhak heard the matter and sought the records from the trial court in Surat but refused to stay the conviction, a key prayer made by senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for Mr. Gandhi.
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Mr. Singhvi had contended, “This is the first-ever case wherein maximum punishment under the law has been imposed for criminal defamation.”
“The court will pass the final order after the vacation as the hearing has been concluded,” the court had noted, adding, “It’s in the interest of justice and fitment of the case that the matter be finally decided.”
The High Court had gone on summer vacation from the first week of May to June 4, and only urgent matters were heard by the Vacation Bench. “It has not even been listed for pronouncement of order,” a source from the HC said.
Surat court ruling
Earlier in March, a local court in Surat had convicted and sentenced Mr. Gandhi to two years in imprisonment over a criminal defamation complaint filed by BJP legislator Purnesh Modi. He had approached the court contending that Mr. Gandhi’s statement of “why all thieves have the Modi surname in common” had tarnished and defamed the Modi community.
The same remark was made by Mr. Gandhi during the last parliamentary polls in 2019 while addressing a campaign rally in Karnataka.
After his conviction and sentencing, Mr. Gandhi was immediately disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha. However, an interim relief by staying the conviction would have helped him get the disqualification lifted.
After his conviction and sentencing, he approached the Surat Sessions Court in April 2023, seeking suspension of sentencing and a stay on the conviction pending his appeal. However, the sessions court granted him bail but refused to stay the conviction.
