Shillong, April 20: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s plea for a stay to his conviction in a criminal defamation case stemming from his remark about the “Modi surname” was dismissed by a Surat sessions court on Thursday.
R P Mogera, the additional sessions judge, had stated last week that he will issue the ruling on April 20.
Gandhi had previously been granted bail by the sessions court, which also postponed the execution of his two-year prison term, which had been handed down by a metropolitan magistrate court on March 23. Gandhi was found guilty by the court for his remark that “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname” was made in 2019 at an electoral rally.
Following his conviction, Gandhi was also disqualified as the Member Parliament of Lok Sabha. It prompted many opposition parties to criticise the government. Gandhi claimed it seemed “reasonable to argue” that the maximum sentence handed down to him was to “attract the order of disqualification (as an MP)” in his appeal before the Surat District and Sessions Court against his two-year conviction.