In a recent development, BJP MLA Purnesh Ishwarbhai Modi, who filed a criminal defamation case against Rahul Gandhi over his remark “why all thieves have Modi surname“, has submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court opposing the stay of Gandhi’s conviction in the case. Modi argued that the stay of conviction is granted in the “rarest of rare cases for exceptional reasons”, and Gandhi’s case does not fall into that category.
Modi stated in his affidavit that the order of conviction passed by the trial court is based on unimpeachable evidence on record. He asserted that Gandhi’s statement defamed all persons bearing the surname “Modi”, particularly the Modh Vanik caste of Gujarat. He further contended that Gandhi’s statement was made out of “personal hatred toward the elected PM of the country”. He stated,
“Such was his hate that he cast defamatory aspersions on persons bearing the same surname as the PM…the statement was made maliciously towards a blameless class of persons and therefore he deserves no sympathy on the question of sentence.”
Modi’s affidavit, filed through Advocate PS Sudheer, pointed out that Gandhi was the president of a national-level political party at the time of the statement. He argued that there was no reason to brand an entire class of people as thieves just because they bear the same surname as the Prime Minister.
Referring to Section 8(3) of the Representation of People Act, 1951, Modi contended that if the legislature wanted that disqualification would only be triggered if there’s moral turpitude, it would’ve made it explicitly clear. He submitted that the offence of defamation under section 500, IPC is itself an offence of moral turpitude.
Modi also pointed out that Gandhi is out on bail in the National Herald case and is facing a defamation case for remarks about Savarkar. He further contended that Gandhi has not shown a repentant attitude even at the time of sentencing by the trial court. Instead, he proclaimed “he was not a Savarkar but a Gandhi“. He added,
“Subsequent to the order of conviction and sentence, the petitioner said he would never apologise in this case as he was not a ‘Savarkar’ but a ‘Gandhi’.”
The controversy over Gandhi’s remark dates back to a political rally at Karnataka’s Kolar in 2019. Following his conviction and a two years’ jail sentence in March, Gandhi was disqualified as a Lok Sabha member in terms of Article 102(1)(e) of the Constitution read with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. The sessions court dismissed Rahul Gandhi’s application seeking a stay on his conviction in the criminal defamation case, although he was granted bail till the court disposed of his appeal.
After exhausting all his remedies, the Congress leader moved the Supreme Court challenging the Gujarat High Court’s decision to decline his plea for a stay on his conviction. The Supreme Court issued notice on Gandhi’s plea on July 21 and posted the matter for hearing on August 4.