We will continue our legal battle, says Purnesh Modi who filed defamation case against Rahul Gandhi

"We will continue our legal battle," BJP MLA Purnesh Modi, who filed a criminal defamation case against Rahul Gandhi said on Friday after the Supreme Court stayed conviction of the Congress leader."Today, the Supreme Court has stayed Rahul Gandhi's conviction. We welcome this verdict given by the court. We will continue our legal battle in the court," Purnesh Modi, former Gujarat minister, said.Modi had filed a criminal defamation case in 2019 against Gandhi over his "How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?" remark made during an election rally in Kolar in Karnataka on 13 April, 2019.The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the conviction of Gandhi in a 2019 defamation case over his 'Modi surname' remark, restoring his status as a Member of Parliament.A three-judge bench of Justices BR Gavai, P S Narasimha and Sanjay Kumar said no doubt that the utterances were not in good taste and that a person in public life is expected to exercise caution while making public speeches.Also Read: 'Modi surname' defamation case: SC stays Rahul Gandhi's conviction, revives MP status"No reason has been given by the trial judge for imposing maximum sentence, the order of conviction needs to be stayed pending final adjudication," the bench said.The top court was hearing a plea by Gandhi challenging the Gujarat High Court verdict which dismissed his plea seeking a stay on his conviction in a defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark.With inputs from agencies