Speaking on the ‘Modi Surname’ defamation case, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Friday said that the world and the country know that this has been done to shut Rahul Gandhi in the Parliament, on the orders and directions of the ruling party.
As reported by ANI, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, “The world and the country know that this has been done to shut Rahul Gandhi in the Parliament, on the orders and directions of the ruling party. What was the fault of Rahul Gandhi that he will apologise?… Rahul Gandhi is not someone who will apologise. This is not because of the arrogance but because he has not done injustice…”
Earlier on Wednesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi refused to apologise over the Modi surname case, reiterating his innocence before the Supreme Court.
In his affidavit, Gandhi argued that he was being coerced or pressured (“arm-twisted”) into issuing an apology. Rahul Gandhi said the apex court, “The Congress leader told the apex court that ‘using the criminal process and the consequences under Representation of Peoples Act’ to compel an apology was a ‘gross abuse of the judicial process.”
Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday extended till September 26 the interim relief granted to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from appearance before a local court here in a defamation complaint pertaining to his alleged remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018.
The complainant, who claims to be a BJP worker, had alleged that Gandhi’s “commander-in-thief” remark in the context of the Rafale fighter jet deal amounted to defamation.
Purnesh Modi had requested the Supreme Court to reject Rahul Gandhi’s appeal against his conviction in a criminal defamation case. Purnesh Modi claimed that Gandhi had defamed all individuals with the Modi surname, particularly those belonging to the ‘Modh Vanik’ caste in Gujarat, PTI reported.
As per the PTI report, on June 21, the Supreme Court had asked Purnesh Modi and the state government to submit their responses to Gandhi’s appeal. In his appeal filed on July 15, Rahul Gandhi argued that if the July 7 judgment was not stayed, it would severely curtail freedom of speech, expression, thought, and statement.
Following a conviction by a Gujarat court for criminal defamation due to comments made about the Modi surname, Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a Member of Parliament on March 24 and sentenced to two years in prison.
PTI reported that despite seeking a stay on his conviction, Rahul Gandhi’s petition was dismissed by the high court. The court emphasized the importance of “purity in politics” at the present time. If the stay had been granted, it could have allowed Gandhi to be reinstated as a Lok Sabha Member of Parliament. However, his requests for relief were turned down by both the sessions court and the Gujarat High Court.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Updated: 04 Aug 2023, 12:26 PM IST