Bharatiya Janata Party’s Surat West MLA Purnesh Modi on Tuesday filed a reply in Surat Sessions court on the appeal filed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to stay his conviction by the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court. The district government pleader will submit their response on April 13, the same day as the hearing.
Rahul Gandhi was found guilty of criminal defamation on March 23 and given a two-year jail term by Surat Chief Judicial Magistrate H H Varma. His attorney Kirit Panwala requested an appeal against the ruling in the Surat Additional Session Court of Judge R P Mogera after the court had granted him bail. The Wayanad MP has been disqualified from Lok Sabha following his conviction as per provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
In accordance with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act (RPA), at the end of his two-year jail term, Rahul Gandhi will be barred from contesting elections for another six years, if his conviction is not suspended.
On April 3, Rahul Gandhi through his lawyer filed an appeal on the stay of conviction, the court, thereafter, ordered the lawyer of the BJP MLA, who is the complainant in the defamation case, to file his reply on or before April 11. On Tuesday, the latter and three of his associates showed up to the Additional Session Judge Mogera’s fourth-floor court where district government lawyer Nayan Sukhadwala was also present.
While the latter asked for permission from the court to file a reply on April 13 since he did not get all the papers, the BJP leader’s attorney Ketan Reshamwala submitted a copy of the reply to the appeal. The request of the govt lawyer was granted by the judge.
“The court had fixed arguments in the first half of April 13. Both Purnesh Modi and Rahul Gandhi will not remain present in the court on April 13. The lawyers from both the prosecution and defence will argue,” stated Ketan Reshamwala, after submitting a copy of the reply to the appeal to the judge.
“We have raised certain issues and objections and we will definitely argue before the court on April 13. The court had fixed arguments in the first half of April 13. Both Purnesh Modi and Rahul Gandhi will not be present in the court,” he added.
Purnesh Modi informed, “As a part of the court proceedings, today I remained present in Additional Session Judge Mogera’s court. I cannot reveal more, as it is a sub judice matter. We have full faith in the judicial system and whatever decision it takes, we will accept it. On April 13, our advocate Harshit Toliya will also remain present in the court for the final hearing.”
On April 3, the convicted Congressman submitted two petitions to a Surat sessions court, one was for bail and a sentence suspension, and the other was an appeal against his conviction. The petition will be heard on April 13 according to the posting by Additional District and Sessions Judge RP Mogera.
The case against Rahul Gandhi was over his remark, “Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi, how come they all have Modi as a common surname? How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname,” which he made on April 13, 2019, during an election rally in Kolar in Karnataka.
