New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday said the Surat Sessions court order on Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in the 2019 defamation case was "erroneous" and will be challenged in the Gujarat high court soon.
AICC spokesperson and senior Supreme Court advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “The Sessions court order is prima facie suspicious and has no legal basis. It is an erroneous order and will be challenged in the state high court in the near future.” According to Singhvi, the Sessions court order had several legal shortcomings which will be challenged in the high court.
“The Sessions court order has cited various previous orders of the higher courts in which the offence was of a serious nature. These references do not apply to Rahul’s case which is a defamation matter. It is like a comedy and we will cite this in the high court,” he said. The Congress spokesperson was reacting to the Surat Sessions court order on Thursday which rejected Rahul Gandhi’s appeal to quash his conviction and a two-year jail term that a trial court had awarded him on March 23.
The criminal defamation case relates to Rahul’s 2019 speech made in Karnataka’s Kolar where he said how come “all thieves had a Modi surname.” Petitioner Purnesh Modi, a BJP leader, had filed the case saying that Rahul had defamed the entire Modi community and later the BJP branded it as an anti-OBC remark.
Singhvi claimed the case against Rahul is to target the leader due to political reasons and the former MP had said nothing wrong. “Rahul Gandhi speaks in the people’s court and did not say anything wrong. This case is meant to target him, troll him, and block him from speaking in Parliament. It shows that the BJP is worried over the questions that Rahul is asking from the government and PM Modi,” he said.
Also read: Surat court dismisses Rahul Gandhi's request to stay conviction in Modi surname defamation case
The Congress leader alleged that “the Sessions court order seems to be influenced by the high office of the PM, who is not even a petitioner in the case.” “The Sessions court order said the appellant defamed PM Modi and the 30 crore members of the community but the PM is not even a complainant,” said Singhvi.
The Supreme Court lawyer also said that the Sessions court did not address the issue of jurisdiction as raised by Rahul. “The speech was made in Kolar but the case was filed in Surat. There should have been a preliminary inquiry by a magistrate as per rules over the jurisdiction. But that issue was not addressed in the Sessions court order,” said Singhvi.
The Congress leader said that the defamation case was “misplaced about the OBC issue.” According to Singhvi, “in a normal defamation case the trial court would have awarded a few months jail term keeping in mind the political stature of the accused and not a two-year jail term which would lead to his disqualification from the Lok Sabha.”
“Rahul’s speech was distorted to serve the BJP’s interest. The speed with which the BJP has moved in the case depicts political animosity against Rahul,” he said. Singhvi said that the Sessions court referred to the “consequences of conviction” while rejecting Rahul’s appeal of stay but the consequences were clear that the Congress leader has missed the Lok Sabha working days, something which cannot be brought back now. Rahul was disqualified from Lok Sabha on March 24. “There has been irrevocable damage. There has been a loss of his Lok Sabha period. It cannot be brought back now,” Singhvi added.
