Rahul Gandhi Case: The Gujarat High Court on Friday (July 7) dismissed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s petition in the defamation case involving ‘Modi surname’. Let us tell you the five reasons on the basis of which the court refused to give relief to the Congress leader.
a serious crime of public character
The court refused to grant relief to Rahul Gandhi, saying that the offense under section 499 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) can be considered a serious offense of large public character. Such cases affect the society at large. A large number of people participate in this. Society has been defamed.
The matter is related to the respect of the society
Bearing in mind that the alleged defamation was of a large identifiable class (people with the surname Modi) and not just one individual. The Court held that the conviction is part of the character of the offense affecting a large section of the public and by definition, affecting the society. This is not just an individual-centred defamation case.
Gandhi’s statement affects a large number of people
Furthermore, the court noted that Rahul Gandhi is a senior leader of India’s oldest political party. He has a huge presence and is a prominent figure in Indian politics. Due to Gandhi’s public reputation, any of his statements influenced people at large. The present sentence is regarding a serious matter affecting a large section, hence the sentence cannot be stayed.
There is no rule barring conviction
The court said that Rahul Gandhi was trying to stay his conviction on non-existent grounds. The stay on conviction is not a rule but an exception to be resorted to in rare cases. While giving the verdict, the court said that if the sentence of Rahul Gandhi is not stayed, then no injustice will be done by it.
10 criminal cases pending against Rahul Gandhi
The court further informed that ten criminal cases are already pending against Rahul Gandhi. People’s representatives should be of clean character. The court also said that more complaints were filed against Gandhi. One of these complaints was filed by Vinayak Damodar’s grandson for Gandhi’s alleged remarks against Savarkar in Cambridge. In view of these circumstances, his sentence cannot be stayed.
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