Congress to move Supreme Court against Gujarat HC order on Rahul Gandhi's conviction in defamation case

Soon after Gujarat High Court dismissed Rahul Gandhi's plea seeking a stay on his conviction in a criminal defamation case over his remark on "Modi surname", Congress said it would now move an appeal before the Supreme Court challenging the high court's verdict.

"There is one more option before us... the Supreme Court. Let's see. The Congress party will seek that option too," AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal said while addressing a party programe organised in Kozhikode district of northern Kerala.

The Gujarat High Court on Friday dismissed Gandhi's plea, upholding the order of the lower court, describing it as "just, proper and legal".

A stay of the conviction would have paved the way for Gandhi's reinstatement as a Member of Parliament.

Also Read: Modi surname case: Gujarat HC rejects Rahul Gandhi's plea on stay of conviction

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On March 23, a metropolitan magistrate's court in Surat sentenced Gandhi to two years in jail after convicting him under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 499 and 500 (criminal defamation) in a 2019 case filed by BJP Gujarat MLA Purnesh Modi.

The MLA had filed a criminal defamation case against Gandhi over his "how come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?" remark made during an election rally at Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019.

With inputs from PTI