Navya Naveli, Pune
On Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Indian National Congress, asserted before the Supreme Court that he has consistently upheld that he is not guilty in the defamation case which involved ‘The Modi surname.’ He claimed that the judgment by the court was unjustifiable. He also mentioned that if he had to apologize and “compound the offense,” he would have done it much earlier and wouldn’t have taken so much time.
Gandhi also claimed to the Supreme Court in his affidavit that derogatory comments like “arrogant” were also referred to by Purnesh Modi. He used it to refer to the former head of the Congress because Gandhi had refused to make an apology.
ANI quoted the Congress leader’s affidavit, which says, “Using the criminal process and the consequences under the Representation of Peoples Act to arm-twist Rahul Gandhi into apologizing for no fault is a gross abuse of our judicial process and ought not to be countenanced by this court.”
Gandhi, who was barred from serving as the member of parliament for Wayanad in the Lok Sabha after he was found guilty in the case, stated that he had an “exceptional” case. He said he considers this offense insignificant, and such a minor issue has resulted in him irreparable harm as an elected MP.
“While there is no prejudice caused to the complainant. It is therefore prayed for that the conviction of Rahul Gandhi be stayed, enabling him to participate in the ongoing sittings of the Lok Sabha and the sessions after that”, the affidavit read.
On March 23, following the complaint of Purnesh Modi, a BJP member, one of the magisterial courts in Gujarat found Rahul Gandhi guilty regarding his comments on the Modi surname. According to the court, Rahul Gandhi was sentenced two-year of imprisonment and was also made ineligible to serve as an MP in the Lok Sabha.
On getting his plea rejected for a stay on his conviction, Rahul Gandhi, on April 20, filed a motion with the sessions court.
The High Court upheld the decision of rejecting Rahul Gandhi’s revision application of endeavoring a stay on his conviction on July 7.