Rahul’s plea seeking stay on conviction dismissed

The Gujarat High Court on Friday dismissed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s plea seeking a stay on his conviction in a criminal defamation case where he has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment.

Justice Hemant Prachchhak, while reading out the operative part of the verdict aloud, stated that the sessions court order refusing to grant a stay on his conviction earlier is “just and legal.”

Observing that such stays are an exception, the court said no injustice will be caused to Rahul if the conviction is not stayed. It however added that the criminal appeal be decided on its own merits and as expeditiously as possible, reports The Indian Express.

The court also took into account that Rahul is facing nearly 10 criminal cases, including a criminal defamation case by VD Savarkar’s grandson.

The court had heard the Congress leader’s petition against his conviction in April and May while the arguments were concluded on May 2.

Soon after the verdict, All India Congress Council (AICC) General Secretary KC Venugopal said the party will move the Supreme Court against the Gujarat High Court order.

Rahul Gandhi’s counsel, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, while seeking a stay on the conviction, had earlier told the High Court that by denying the plea for a stay on conviction in such a case of alleged criminal defamation, the court will be “rewriting” the scope of CrPC Section 389.

The High Court was also told that the trial was vitiated, that the conviction is neither an offence of moral turpitude nor does it comprise a serious offence, as defined under various judgments.

Singhvi had submitted that irreversible consequences flow from the conviction, including re-election to Rahul’s seat, which cannot be reversed by a court of law.

On March 23, a Surat magistrate court had convicted Rahul Gandhi to two years of simple imprisonment in a complaint of criminal defamation filed by Surat West MLA Purnesh Modi, over his remark “why all thieves share the Modi surname” during a political campaign at Kolar in Karnataka in April 2019.

Following the verdict, Rahul, who then represented Kerala’s Wayanad in the Lok Sabha, was disqualified as an MP under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act.

The court of additional sessions judge Robin Mogera in Surat had on April 20 rejected Rahul’s plea seeking a stay on the conviction, observing that “if such power is exercised in a casual and mechanical manner, the same would have serious impact on the public perception on the justice delivery systems and such order will shake public confidence in the judiciary.”

A stay on the conviction by the High Court would have paved the way for Rahul Gandhi’s reinstatement as an MP.