A Surat court held Rahul Gandhi guilty over his 2019 comments made in Kolar, Karnataka. Rahul Gandhi’s remark on the ‘Modi’ surname, wherein he repeatedly asked, “Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi. How come they all have Modi as a common surname? How come all the thieves have Modi as their common surname?” he asked on April 13, 2019, at a rally in Kolar. Furthermore, he added, “The name Modi symbolizes the collusion between India’s biggest crony capitalists and the Prime Minister of India.”
Offended by Rahul’s remarks, Purnesh Modi, a BJP MLA and a former minister, filed a defamation case under Secs. 499 and 500 IPC. The court found Rahul guilty and sentenced him to two years in jail u/s 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for his remarks against the Modi community. However, the court has granted bail, suspended its sentence, and granted leave of 30 days to appeal.
Rahul appeared in Surat court three times, the last in October 2021, and pleaded not guilty. The accused obtained an interim stay in March 2022, which was later vacated by the Gujarat High Court. The final arguments resumed last Friday. The literal position of the law is that Rahul is disqualified as an MP under Section 8(3) of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951. He shall further be disqualified for six years from the date of his release. The Parliament has made an amendment giving a three-month breather to convicted lawmakers to enable them to appeal their conviction and until such an appeal is disposed of by the court under Sec. 8(4). However, the Supreme Court has struck down Section 8(4) as unconstitutional. Therefore, a specific order against the conviction must be obtained and not merely an appeal for suspension of the sentence under Sec. 389 CrPc.
It has become customary for political leaders in election mode to become loose cannons and hurl abuse at political opponents, often breaching civility or bordering on being outright defamatory and actionable, as the case here is.
The Gandhi coterie is crying out as a witch hunt and an attempt to finish off the Congress party. They must learn the trick from AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal. Abuse in public and send a letter in private apologizing for his utterances. The trick has worked, and many defamations against AK have been withdrawn. Rahul Gandhi’s coterie misjudged the court, thinking that the name Gandhi or the Congress party could intimidate the judge. Rahul and his advisors were ignorant or arrogant about the Lakshman Rekha that they had breached. An apology would have ended this ignominy for a prime ministerial aspirant, which was missed.
I am certain the appeals court will overturn the trial court, but this must be a lesson for all political leaders who think they are a law unto themselves.
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix.
