Rahul Gandhi 'Modi surname' case: Surat court reserves verdict on plea to stay conviction, order on April 20

Gujarat's Surat Court will pronounce the decision in Rahul Gandhi's plea in the 2019 defamation case on 'Modi surname' remark, on 20th April.

The court is hearing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's plea for a stay on his conviction in a defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark in which he has been sentenced to two years in jail.

Rahul Gandhi's lawyer argued in a court that the trial in a defamation case over the Congress leader's "Modi surname" remark was "not fair" and there was no need for maximum punishment in the case.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA and complainant Purnesh Modi, in his reply filed earlier in the same court, opposed Gandhi's plea for a stay on conviction saying the Congress leader is a "repetitive offender" who is in the habit of making defamatory statements.

On Thursday, arguments from both sides commenced in the court of Additional Sessions Judge RP Mogera.

Rahul Gandhi's conviction

A metropolitan magistrate's court in Surat on March 23 sentenced Rahul Gandhi to two years in jail after holding him guilty for his remark "How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname", made during an election rally on April 13, 2019.

Gandhi has filed an appeal before Judge Mogera against the verdict. He has also prayed for a stay on the conviction in the meantime.

In his appeal, Gandhi has termed his conviction as "erroneous" and patently perverse.