While refusing to apologise over the Modi surname remark, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday came down heavily on Gujarat BJP MLA Purnesh Ishwarbhai Modi. The BJP MLA had filed a complaint against Gandhi in the 2019 incident.
Gandhi filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court maintaining his innocence in the matter and requesting the apex court to stay his two-year conviction. Gandhi was disqualified as the Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad after his conviction in the case.
“On the other hand, there is no prejudice caused at all to the complainant. It is therefore prayed for that the conviction of Rahul Gandhi be stayed, enabling him to participate in the ongoing sittings of the Lok Sabha and the sessions thereafter,” the affidavit stated.
‘Arm twisting’ into apologising
Gandhi also accused BJP MLA Modi of using slanderous terms such as ‘arrogant’ to describe the former Congress chief for refusing to apologise. The petitioner used the criminal process and the consequences under the Representation of Peoples Act to “arm twist” Gandhi into apologising despite not being at fault. The affidavit also called the case a gross abuse of the judicial process.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi refused to apologise over the Modi surname case on Wednesday, reiterating his innocence before the Supreme Court. that he has always maintained that he is not guilty of offence and that the conviction is unsustainable and if he had to apologise and compound the offence, he would have done it much earlier.
The Modi surname incident
In April 2019, Gandhi addressed a rally and took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking the audience, "How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?"
Gandhi was convicted in March following the complaint filed by BJP MLA Modi, who called the Congress leader “arrogant” in a reply filed before the SC on Wednesday.
“At the time of sentencing before the Trial Court, the Petitioner far from being repentant or contrite, displayed arrogance. He said he did not seek any mercy from the Court and would not apologise for any harm to the reputation of the persons he had defamed. Subsequent to the order of conviction and sentence, in a press conference, the Petitioner said that he would never apologise in this case as he was not a Savarkar, but a Gandhi," Modi’s affidavit claimed.
