Rahul Gandhi to visit violence-hit Manipur on June 29
Rahul Gandhi

Guwahati: The Gujarat High Court refused to stay the conviction of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in criminal defamation case over his Modi surname remark on Friday.

A bench of Justice Hemant Prachchhak of Gujarat HC observed that there are at least eight other criminal defamation complaints pending against Gandhi and that the session’s court order doesn’t warrant any interference.

‘Even after the present case, some more cases filed against him. One such is filed by the grandson of Veer Savarkar. In any way, the conviction would not result in any injustice,” said the high court.

A metropolitan magistrate’s court in Surat sentenced the former Congress president to two years in jail on March 23 after convicting him under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 499 and 500 (criminal defamation) in a 2019 case filed by Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Purnesh Modi.

Following the verdict, Gandhi, elected to the Lok Sabha from Wayanad in Kerala, was disqualified as MP under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act.

Gandhi challenged the order in a sessions court in Surat along with an application seeking a stay on the conviction.

While granting him bail, the court, on April 20, refused to stay the conviction, after which he approached the high court.