Rahul Gandhi Defamed a Community, Not Just A Person: Gujarat HC ‘Modi Surname’ Order in 7 Points​ – News18

Dismissing Rahul Gandhi’s plea seeking a stay on his conviction in a criminal defamation case over his “Modi surname” remark, the Gujarat High Court (HC) said the offence falls in the category of “moral turpitude” and “increases as not only one individual, but a community has been defamed”. CNN-News18 has exclusively accessed the HC order copy.

The stay would have paved the way for Gandhi’s reinstatement as a Member of Parliament (MP). After the verdict, the Congress said it would challenge the HC order in the Supreme Court (SC).

ALSO READ | Modi Surname Case: Setback for Rahul Gandhi as Gujarat HC Rejects Plea for Stay on Conviction

Here are the key points from the order:

1. ‘DEFAMATION ALLEGED WAS OF A LARGE IDENTIFIABLE CLASS’
   “In the present case, in order to gauge the seriousness of the offence, another factor which compounds the case against the petitioner is that the defamation alleged was of a large identifiable class and not just an individual. Due to the said fact, the conviction partakes the character of an offence affecting a large section of the public and by definition, the society at large and not just a case of an individual centric defamation case,” the HC said.
2. ‘RAHUL IS LEADER OF OLDEST PARTY, HIS UTTERANCES GET LARGE SCALE PUBLICITY’
   The HC held that the petitioner is a senior leader of the oldest political party in India with a large presence and a prominent figure in the realm of the Indian political landscape, also ensures that every utterance of the petitioner automatically gets large scale publicity.
3. ‘SHOULD’VE EXCERCISED RIGHTS IN A WAY THAT ANY CLASS IS NOT JEOPARDISED’
   In the modern electronic media environment, this large scale publicity is lightning quick, difficult to contain and leaves a permanent imprint in the form of website links, videos, etc, the HC said.
   “The petitioner is assumed to be aware of the same and being a public personality is vested with the duty to exercise this vast power at his disposal with caution ensuring that dignity and reputation of a large number of persons or any identifiable class is not jeopardised due to his political activities or utterances,” it added.
4. ‘RAHUL IS AN MP… DEFENCE OF FAIR COMMENT IS NEITHER PROVEN NOR BELIEVED’
   It appears that the accused is a Member of Parliament, possessing high position in the society and having duty not to scandalize any person from the society and the defence of fair comment is neither proved nor believed by the Courts below, the HC noted.
5. ‘BREACHED MODESTY, OWES DUTY TO…NOT INFLUENCE POLLS ON FALSE FACTS’
   “The revisioner has breached the modesty, even if his version is accepted and further revisioner owes a duty to each individual and the society in general not to influence the election on the basis of false fact,” the HC said.
6. ‘OFFENCE COMMITTED BY GANDHI FALLS IN MORAL TURPITUDE CATEGORY’
   Thus, under the facts and circumstances of the case, the offence committed by the accused falls in the category of moral turpitude, the order said.
7. ‘THERE SHOULD BE PURITY IN POLITICS’
   “Disqualification is not limited only to MPs/MLAs. Moreover, as many as 10 criminal cases are pending against the applicant. It is now need of the hour to have purity in politics. Representatives of people should be man of clear antecedent,” the HC said.