The Gujarat High Court on Friday, July 7, dismissed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s plea to stay the conviction in the criminal defamation case against him for the "Modi thieves" remark.The Gujarat High Court remarked that Rahul Gandhi is seeking a stay on the conviction on “absolutely non-existent grounds” and that there are as many as 10 cases pending against him.
The Court further said, “It is needed to have purity in politics...A complaint has been filed against [Gandhi]by the grandson of Veer Savarkar in Pune Court after Gandhi used terms against Veer Savarkar at Cambridge.” The Court then noted that the conviction is “just, proper and legal” and the refusal to stay the conviction would not result in injustice to Gandhi in any way.
On March 23, a Gujarat court held Rahul Gandhi guilty of criminal defamation for his statement from 2019 and sentenced him to two years of imprisonment. After the sentencing, he was disqualified as a Member of Parliament. Rahul Gandhi was granted bail on the same day by the Surat court that convicted him and was given 30 days to appeal to a higher court.
The complaint was filed by former Gujarat minister and BJP legislator Purnesh Modi. During an election campaign in Kolar in 2019, Rahul Gandhi had asked, “how come all the thieves have Modi as common surname.” The court had initially sentenced him to two years imprisonment, however, it later suspended the sentence for 30 days and granted bail to Rahul.
On April 20, a Surat court dismissed Gandhi’s appeal for the suspension of his conviction and punishment. Five days after the dismissal, the Congress leader filed an appeal in the Gujarat High Court seeking a stay on his conviction and disqualification. On May 2, the Gujarat High Court refused to grant interim stay on the conviction.