'Modi Surname' Case: Gujarat High Court Denies Interim Protection To Rahul Gandhi

'Modi Surname' Case: The development is a setback to Rahul Gandhi as if he fails to get his conviction reversed, his disqualification as an MP will stand.

The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday denied interim protection to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who has sought to suspend his conviction and jail term in the 'Modi surname' defamation case. Justice Hemant Prachchhak reserved his order on Gandhi's plea and said he would pronounce the judgment after summer vacation in June.

"It is in the interest and fitness of the case, that the matter be decided finally and no interim protection be granted at this stage. Hence, the matter is kept for final judgment post summer vacations," Bar and Bench quoted Justice Prachchhak as saying.

May 5 is the last working day for the High Court and it is slated to reopen on June 5.

The High Court also ordered the Surat trial court to place before it the original "record and proceedings" of the case.

Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Gandhi, told the Gujarat HC that the findings in the trial court order were speculative and hypothetical.

"The electronic evidence too isn't proved. The evidence shows the CD was in an open condition which is a breach of IT Act," Singhvi said.

"I have seen this one as the first ever case wherein maximum punishment is imposed for criminal defamation. There are many advocates in this court hall, who have more experience than me. I doubt they have ever heard of this kind of sentence and conviction," he further said.

Last week, the Gujarat High Court said Gandhi was an elected representative of the people and must, therefore, be cautious while making statements.

During the hearing, senior advocate Singhvi had told the court that the offence for which the Congress leader was awarded the maximum sentence of two years in jail was not serious nor did it involve any "moral turpitude", PTI reported.

"There are very serious ex-facie vitiating factors of the trial that raise grave apprehension about the process of trial," advocate Singhvi said. 

"In the case of a public servant or a legislator, it has very serious additional irreversible consequences - to the person, the constituency, and also drastic consequences of re-election," he told the bench of Justice Hemant Prachchhak.

Singhvi pointed out that if a bypoll was conducted for the Wayanad constituency, which Gandhi represented before he was disqualified, its result can not be undone even if the Congress leader won his appeal against the conviction.

If this situation "is not enough to suspend conviction, then what additional circumstances can anybody have?" Singhvi asked.

Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a member of Lok Sabha in March after he was sentenced to two years in jail by a Surat metropolitan magistrate's court in the 2019 case over his "why all thieves have Modi surname" remark. Later, the Surat sessions court declined to stay the conviction in the matter.

The former Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad had said "how come all thieves have the common surname Modi?" while addressing a rally in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election, targetting PM Modi over his last name which he shares with fugitive businessmen Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi.

The case was filed by the BJP legislator Purnesh Modi.

If Gandhi fails to get his conviction reversed, his disqualification as an MP will stand and he will be barred from contesting elections for eight years. He has already vacated his government-allotted bungalow.