Gandhinagar: The Gujarat High Court will on Saturday hear the appeal by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi against his conviction by the Magistrate court in the Modi surname remarks defamation case, sources said. Rahul Gandhi has approached the Gujarat High Court seeking a stay against the conviction. The Surat sessions court, which sentenced Gandhi to two years rejected his plea seeking a stay on his conviction in the ongoing defamation case against him.
Rahul Gandhi defamation case hearing: Rahul Gandhi has filed a revision petition in the Gujarat High Court against the verdict given by the Sessions Court of Surat. The petition was first brought before Justice Gita Gopi of the Gujarat High Court but Gita Gopi recused herself from hearing the case. Justice Hemant Prachchak will now hear the matter on Saturday.
Also read:Modi surname defamation case: Rahul Gandhi likely to challenge lower court order next week in Gujarat HC
It can be recalled that on Mar. 23, the Surat court convicted Rahul Gandhi and sentenced him to two years for his remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election speech in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The very next day, Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as Member of Parliament after his conviction.
Rahul is currently on bail in the case. At a rally in Kolar, Karnataka during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi had said, ''How come the surname of all thieves is Modi”. Following the statement, BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi filed a defamation case against Rahul Gandhi. In his complaint, the BJP MLA alleged that Rahul, while addressing an election rally in Karnataka, had “defamed the entire Modi community” by saying why all thieves have the surname Modi.
