Gujarat, India: On April 3, the Surat Sessions Court granted bail to Congress leader and former MP Rahul Gandhi in the ‘Modi’ surname defamation case. The case will be heard next on April 13, Live Law reported.
A Surat Court sentenced him to two years imprisonment after BJP MLA Purnesh Modi lodged a complaint against Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on the ‘Modi’ surname wherein he repeatedly asked, “Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi. How come they all have Modi as common surname? How come all the thieves have Modi as common surname?” on April 13, 2019, at a rally in Kolar.
Earlier today, he filed an appeal before the Surat Sessions Court challenging his conviction. He filed two applications accompanied with his appeal, one for suspension of his sentence and the other for suspension of his conviction. It is pertinent to note that reinstatement of his Lok Sabha membership is subject to the suspension of his conviction and issuance of notification from the Lok Sabha Secretariat for the same.
Patna MP/MLA Court
An MP/MLA Court in Bihar’s Patna district has directed Congress leader and former Member of Parliament (MP) Rahul Gandhi to appear before the Court on April 12 and record his statement u/s 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) in the ‘Modi’ surname defamation case filed by Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi.
Sushil Modi filed a criminal complaint against Rahul Gandhi in 2019 u/s 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) over his remarks “how come all the thieves have Modi as common surname?” made in Karol during a political campaign.
Sushil Modi alleged that it was a derogatory remark targeting people having the ‘Modi’ surname. However, Rahul Gandhi got bail in the case in 2019.
Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification
Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha following his conviction in the ‘Modi’ surname defamation case. On March 24, the Lok Sabha Secretariat issued the notification of Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from Lok Sabha.
The notification states, “Consequent upon his conviction by the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Surat in C.C./18712/2019, Shri Rahul Gandhi, Member of Lok Sabha representing the Wayanad Parliamentary Constituency of Kerala stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction i.e. 23 March 2023 in terms of the provisions of Article 102(1)(e) of the Constitution of India read with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.”
It is pertinent to note that u/s 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, “a person convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for no less than two years shall be disqualified from the date of such conviction and shall continue to be disqualified for a period of six years since his release,” provides for automatic disqualification of an MP, MLA or MLC from the date of conviction when such elected representative is convicted for not less than two years.
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