The former MP and the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi,has filed a latest in affidavit filed in the Apex Court in his plea to stay the conviction in the criminal defamation case.

In his plea,the leader has asserted that he does not find anything to be apologetic about his remark “why all thieves share Modi surname” remark.

As per the plea the petitioner maintains that he is not guilty of offence and that the conviction is unsustainable and if he had to apologise and compound the offence, he would have done it much earlier.

Rahul  Gandhi  was called names and arrogant,for not showing repentance and apologizing for the remark.

In his response the former MP ,the consequences under the Representation of Peoples’ Act to arm twist the petitioner into apologising for no fault, is gross abuse of the judicial process and ought not to be countenanced.

This new affidavit filed by Rahul Gandhi is rejoinder to the counter-affidavit filed by the complainant in the case BJP MLA Purnesh Ishwarbhai Modi, who has opposed the suspension of conviction.

The counsel for Gandhi  contented that criminal defamation is not an offence involving moral turpitude.

It was contended that the rare circumstance of awarding the maximum punishment to him is by itself an “exceptional circumstance” to stay his conviction in the criminal defamation case.

Gandhi also pointed out that defamation is only one of the 22 offences under the IPC which attracts only simple imprisonment as opposed to rigorous imprisonment. Also, the offence is bailable, non-cognizable and compoundable. These factors point out that the offence is not grave.

It was also added that the award of maximum punishment for such an offence and also the consequent disqualification as MP are exceptional factors which the Court should consider to stay the conviction, he urged.

It was also said that  his role as a Parliamentarian and leader of the opposition, stressing that it was his duty to critically evaluate the conduct of the ruling establishment. He contended that his speech should be seen in its entirety to ascertain whether there was any intention to defame or not.

The Congress leader added that the complainant had not heard the speech himself and that he relied on a WhatsApp screenshot of a news article.

Sown concerns were raised by  Gandhi  about an oral witness presented in the case, claiming that this individual was neither mentioned in the complaint nor was known to him.

About the witness ,the former MP added that the presence of this witness, who allegedly has strong ties with the political rival party, raised suspicion about potential bias.

Regarding the electronic evidence presented against him, Gandhi submitted that the CDs were not attached to the complaint and lacked proper sealing.

The counsel for Gandhi also said thy there’s no “Modi Samaj ” as such. Modi surname falls under various castes and the respondent himself has admitted that Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi and Mehul Choksi do not fall within the same caste.

The leader himself added that there’s an undefined, amorphous group of people and not an identifiable class of people as portrayed.

Counse submitted that he is not a previous convict and contended that previous pending cases cannot be used as criminal antecedents relying on Siddharam Mhatre v State of Maharashtra(2011).

He further stated that the respondent won’t suffer any harm if his conviction is stayed. While on the other hand, it’s causing irreparable harm to him since he cannot participate in the ongoing sittings of Lok Sabha.

The Gujarat High Court Justice Hemant Prachchhak will hear the appeal filed by the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who has asked for stay on his conviction in a criminal defamation case against him by a Magistrate court.

The justice has agreed to hear the case on April 29.

On April 26, when the counsel for Rahul Gandhi named Pankaj Champaneri mentioned the matter in court seeking an urgent hearing,Justice Gita Gopi recused herself from hearing the appeals.

Justice Gopi had said that the papers should be presented before Acting Chief Justice for assigning a new bench.

Gujarat High Court website reads that Justice Prachchhak is likely to take up this appeal for hearing on Saturday, April 29.

On April 20,a sessions court in Surat had dismissed the plea by Gandhi seeking suspension of his conviction by the Magistrate court.

The sessions court had held that Gandhi disqualification would not amount to be an irreparable or an irreversible loss to him and refused interim relief to him.

Rahul Gandhi, who has now been disqualified from Wayanad, Kerala was convicted on March 23,by a Magistrate court in Surat for his remark that all thieves have Modi surname which he had made at an election rally in Karnataka’s Kolar in 2019.

Gandhi had, in his speech linked Prime Minister Narendra Modi with fugitives like Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi.

He had said,Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi. How come all the thieves have ‘Modi’ as a common surname?”

Purnesh Modi, a former BJP Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), took exception to the said speech claiming that Gandhi humiliated and defamed persons with the Modi surname.

The magistrate court in Surat accepted the contention of Modi that by his speech, Gandhi has intentionally insulted the people with a ‘Modi’ surname.

Judge Hadirash Varma, in his 168-page judgment,said that since Gandhi is a Member of Parliament (MP) and he should have realised that whatever he says will have a greater impact.

The judge held that Rahul Gandhi had taken the reference of the surname of the current Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, for satisfying his political greed and insulted and defamed about 13 crore people living in the whole of India having the surname ‘Modi.

The sessions judge refused to stay the same leading to the present plea before the High Court.

A local court in Bihar has summoned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to appear before it on April 12 in a 2019 defamation case filed against him by Rajya Sabha MP and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushil Kumar Modi over his remark, “all thieves have Modi surname”. 

The MP/MLA court at Patna directed the Congress leader to record his statements under Section 313 of CrPC.

The Rajya Sabha MP had filed a criminal complaint through Senior Advocate and former Additional Solicitor General of India S.D. Sanjay against Gandhi under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (Defamation), contending that it was a derogatory remark targetting people having the ‘Modi’ surname.

The Congress leader had made the alleged remark during a political campaign in Kolar, Karnataka in April, 2019. He had said, “Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi. How come all the thieves have ‘Modi’ as a common surname?”

Earlier on March 23, a local court in Surat district of Gujarat had convicted Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in the same defamation case.

The Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate H.H. Varma sentenced Gandhi to two years in jail and also imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 after finding him guilty under Sections 499 (Defamation) and 500 (punishment for Defamation) IPC.

He has also secured bail in the case. The court granted a month’s time to the Wayanad MP, so that he could file an appeal against the order.

Gandhi’s conviction under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), both of which warrant a maximum sentence of two years, lead to his disqualification from the Parliament, as per a Supreme Court order of 2013.

BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Ishvarbhai Modi had filed a defamation suit against Gandhi in Surat, alleging that the remark had defamed the entire Modi community. On the basis of his complaint, a case was registered against Gandhi at Adajan Police Station in Surat district.