Gandhi in turn told the Court that has not committed any grave or heinous offence like murder or any offence involving moral turpitude.
The Gujarat High Court on Saturday said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is an elected representative of the people and must, therefore, be cautious while making statements [Rahul Gandhi vs Purnesh Modi].
Single-judge Justice Hemant Prachchhak made the remark while hearing Gandhi’s plea seeking stay on his conviction by a Magistrate court in a criminal defamation case against Gandhi for his remark “all thieves have Modi surname” at an election rally.
“In fact, it is his more duty towards the people at large. He is representing the people at large. He must make his statements within limits and bounds,” the judge orally remarked.
Gandhi in turn told the Court that has not committed any grave or heinous offence like murder or any offence involving moral turpitude.
“Nobody can suggest that my case falls under moral turpitude or serious category. In fact, my case is a bailable one and it is not against the society at large,” Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi submitted in behalf of Gandhi.
Singhvi also questioned the locus of the complainant Purnesh Modi in filing the complaint in the first place.
“My case is that this appeal must succeed because law doesn’t permit such complaints. Not anyone from the 13 crore people (with Modi surname) can come and file a complaint except the ones named in the speech. It is not even their case that I named Mr. Purnesh Modi,” Singhvi said.
Background
A sessions court in Surat had, on April 20, earlier dismissed Gandhi’s plea seeking suspension of his conviction by the Magistrate court.
In a detailed order, the sessions court held that Gandhi’s disqualification would not amount to be an irreparable or an irreversible loss to him and refused interim relief to him.
The now disqualified parliamentarian from Wayanad, Kerala was convicted by a Magistrate court in Surat on March 23 for his remark “all thieves have Modi surname” which he had made at an election rally in Karnataka’s Kolar in 2019.
Gandhi had, in his speech linked Prime Minister Narendra Modi with fugitives like Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi.
He had said,
“Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi. How come all the thieves have ‘Modi’ as a common surname?”
Purnesh Modi, a former BJP Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), took exception to the said speech claiming that Gandhi humiliated and defamed persons with the Modi surname.
The magistrate court in Surat accepted the contention of Modi that by his speech, Gandhi has intentionally insulted the people with a ‘Modi’ surname.
In his 168-page judgment, Judge Hadirash Varma said that since Gandhi is a Member of Parliament (MP), whatever he says will have a greater impact. Thus, he should have exercised restraint, the Magistrate ruled.
“The accused had taken the reference of the surname of the current Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, to satisfy his political greed and insulted and defamed 13 crore people living in the whole of India having the surname ‘Modi’” the judge held.
The sessions judge refused to stay the Magistrate court conviction leading to the present plea before the High Court.