Gujarat High Court refuses to stay Rahul Gandhi's conviction in defamation case

Rahul Gandhi

The Gujarat High Court on July 7 refused to grant a stay on the conviction of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by a Surat court in a defamation case that has virtually ruled him out of the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

The former Congress president was found guilty of defamation for "all thieves have Modi surname" remark allegedly made during the campaign for the 2019 elections.

Justice Hemant Prachhak delivered the judgment.

On March 23, Gandhi was convicted by the chief judicial magistrate of Surat and sentenced to two years in prison. The next day he was disqualified from the Lok Sabha.

According to the Representation of the People Act of 1951, MPs and MLAs are disqualified the moment they are convicted of an offence punished by imprisonment of two years or more. They also continue to be disqualified from the electoral process for six years after release from prison. In Gandhi's case, the conviction, if upheld, will disqualify him for eight years.

Gandhi will have to obtain a stay on his conviction to be reinstated as a member of the Lok Sabha. Days after Gandhi’s disqualification, a plea was moved in the Supreme Court, challenging the validity of the provision under which he was disqualified.

On April 20, a sessions court in Surat refused to stay Gandhi's conviction, an appeal was filed against the order in the High Court, which concluded the hearing on May 2 and refused relief on July 7.

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