Political uproar over Gujarat High Court’s refusal to stay Rahul’s sentence
Ahmedabad (IANS). The Gujarat High Court Friday refused to stay the trial court’s conviction and two-year jail term for former Congress president Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case. Due to this punishment, the MP of the Congress leader has also gone away.
The court ruled that post-conviction stays are the exception, not the rule. Justice Hemant Prachhak’s bench made this remark while pronouncing the order.
The court said, “Rahul Gandhi is making absolutely baseless demand for stay of conviction. Stay of conviction is not a rule. There are 10 cases pending against him (Gandhi). There is a need for purity in politics…
“Complaint has been filed against (Gandhi) by grandson of Veer Savarkar in Pune Court after Gandhi used words against Veer Savarkar in Cambridge… Refusal to stay conviction will in any way harm the applicant. No injustice will be done to him. There is no reasonable ground to stay the conviction. The conviction is just, proper and legal.”
The defamation case, which is related to the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign. He had said in a public meeting in Karnataka, “How come all thieves have only one surname, Modi.”
The remark was interpreted as an attempt to draw out an implicit connection between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and fugitive businessmen Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi.
Rahul Gandhi’s lawyer B.M. Mangukia said, “The verdict has been passed despite lack of evidence. In the court’s observations about the case, its analysis is wrong. There is no evidence of what Rahul Gandhi is accused of.”
Gujarat BJP leader Purnesh Modi said, “In 2019, Rahul Gandhi had made a comment ‘how is Modi the surname of all thieves’. After that we filed a case in Surat court. Whether it is Veer Savarkar or he, Rahul Gandhi should not have made such comments. But should think and not do this. Instead they should behave respectably in India.”
Youth Congress chief Srinivas Bevi said, “You can never defeat the truth. Everyone knows why this decision was taken. The issue started when Rahul Gandhi ji spoke on the Adani issue and asked about Rs 20,000 crore coming into the group through ‘shell companies’. The people of the country are seeing this and they will take the side of truth. We will also continue to fight.”
Congress spokesperson Alka Lamba said, “This is not a setback. This is a legal battle and we will fight it. Rahul Gandhi just says one thing, ‘don’t be afraid’ and we are not going to be afraid. We will fight and win because it is a democratic It is against rights. Rahul Gandhi just asked a question against Adani and his Rs 20,000 crore investment by shell companies. We will fight this battle till the end.”
Congress treasurer Pawan Bansal said, “This decision is wrong. This decision should not have been taken.”
