The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to list on July 21 a petition filed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to suspend his conviction in a criminal defamation case in which he said a political speech critical of economic offenders and also of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, made in the course of democratic political activity, has been held to be an act of moral turpitude.
Mr. Gandhi has also sought a stay of a Gujarat High Court judgment which according to him “has no parallel or precedent in the jurisprudence of the law of defamation”.
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Appearing before a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, senior advocate A.M. Singhvi and advocate Prasanna S., for Mr. Gandhi, submitted that the case required an urgent hearing.
“We will take it up on Friday,” Chief Justice Chandrachud said.
Mr. Gandhi has argued that the case is unprecedented as a maximum sentence of two years has been imposed.
“This has resulted in the inexorable exclusion of the petitioner from all political elective office for a long period of eight years. That too, in the world’s largest democracy where the petitioner has been a former president of the oldest political movement in the country and is also continuously in the vanguard of opposition political activity,” the petition said.
The criminal defamation case was related to his “Modi” surname remark allegedly made during a political rally in Karnataka’s Kolar district in 2019.
Challenging the July 7 High Court decision, Mr. Gandhi contended that he was served a two-year conviction for allegedly defaming an “undefined amorphous group” which, according to the complainant, Gujarat MLA Purnesh Ishwarbhai Modi, had wronged the reputation of “13 crore people”. Defamation law required the wrong to be done to a well-defined class of people, and not a vague group.
The Congress leader said the complaint itself was not sustainable in law as the alleged imputations were perceived as against Prime Minister Narendra Modi individually.
“Only Shri Narendra Modi can be considered as the person aggrieved of the offence of defamation and only Shri Narendra Modi can file a complaint for the same and Shri Purnesh Modi, the complainant, has no right to file the complaint on his behalf,” the petition said.
Mr. Gandhi argued that the defamation complaint was an attempt to muffle political dialogue.
“A political speech in the course of democratic political activity, critical of economic offenders, and also of Shri Narendra Modi, has been held to be an act of moral turpitude inviting the harshest punishment. Such a finding is gravely detrimental to democratic free speech in the midst of a political campaign. It is respectfully submitted that the same will set a disastrous precedent wiping out any form of political dialogue or debate which is remotely critical in any manner,” the petition said.
The Gujarat High Court erred in its conclusion that the alleged defamation in Mr. Gandhi’s case suffered from “moral turpitude”.
“The term ‘moral turpitude’ has been misapplied to a case which is not one relating to any heinous offense (e.g., murder, rape or other immoral activity) and ex facie cannot apply to an offense where the legislature thought it fit to provide for a maximum punishment of only two years,” the petition contended.
It submitted that the surname ‘Modi’, in different parts of the country, encompassed different communities and sub-communities, which usually have no commonality or uniformity at all. The Modi surname belonged to various castes.
The complainant, who simply has a ‘Modi’ surname, did not prove that he was prejudiced or damaged in any specific or personal sense, it noted.
“The most important ingredient of the offence, an intention to defame, has admittedly not been proved in the case on the basis of any evidence,” the petition noted.
The petition said 112 days have passed since Mr. Gandhi’s disqualification from the House. The by-elections for the Wayanad constituency may be announced any time. There is a constitutional mandate under Section 151A of the Representation of People Act, 1951 to not allow the vacancy of a seat for more than six months The monsoon session of the 16th Lok Sabha is slated to begin on July 20, 2023.
