Gujarat court rejects Rahul Gandhi’s plea to suspend defamation conviction.
The Gujarat High Court denied Rahul Gandhi’s request to stay his conviction in a 2019 defamation case, so he will continue to be barred from running for office.
The conviction is “just, proper, and legal,” the court ruled, effectively ending the Congress leader’s hopes of returning to parliament and contesting national elections next year.
As the Gujarat court rejects Rahul Gandhi’s plea to suspend his defamation conviction, Rahul will now seek relief from the Supreme Court, which is his last resort.
Gandhi was found guilty in March in a case brought by Purnesh Modi, a Gujarat state lawmaker from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after comments he made in 2019 were deemed insulting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others with the surname Modi.
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“How come all thieves have the name Modi?” Gandhi had asked in an election campaign speech, referring to two fugitive businessmen, both surnamed Modi.
Gandhi, the scion of a dynasty that has produced three prime ministers in India, was sentenced to two years in prison, but the sentence was suspended and he was granted bail.
Gandhi also lost his parliamentary seat as a result of the conviction, because lawmakers sentenced to two years or more in prison are automatically disqualified.
They are also barred from running for office for six years after their two-year sentence expires.
Gandhi has filed a separate appeal against the conviction in a district court, which has yet to hear the case.
In his order on Friday, Gujarat High Court Justice Hemant Prachchhak stated that a stay of conviction is not a rule but an exception to be used only in exceptional circumstances.
“The refusal of stay of conviction would not in any way result in injustice to the applicant,” the judge said.
“There is no reasonable ground to stay the conviction of the applicant in view of the facts and circumstances of the case.”
There was no immediate response from Gandhi to the verdict.
Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said the judgment would be studied. “The judgment only redoubles our resolve to pursue the matter further,” Ramesh tweeted.
During the case’s hearing, Gandhi’s lawyer, Abhishek Singhvi, argued that the crime for which Gandhi was convicted is not “serious,” and that being barred from running for office for eight years is “virtually semi-permanent in politics.”
Gandhi was only the second Indian lawmaker to be removed from parliament after being convicted. The other case occurred in January of this year, but the lawmaker was later reinstated.
Gandhi’s disqualification pushed India’s main opposition parties to put aside their differences and work together to mount a united challenge to the BJP in the national elections in 2024.
