AHMEDABAD: Gujarat High Court justice Gita Gopi on Wednesday recused herself from hearing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s petition seeking a stay on his conviction in the ‘Modi surname’ criminal defamation case.
“Not before me,” the judge said when the plea was mentioned before her. Pankaj Champaneri, the attorney for Rahul, told this daily: “We have mentioned the case before high court justice Gita Gopi, seeking an urgent hearing.”
He added that the motion was challenged by the assistant government pleader (AGP), who argued that the matter should be allowed for urgent circulation but not hearing. “We objected, arguing that the state had no involvement because it was a private issue.”
Judge Gopi withdrew from the case after a brief hearing and ordered the court registry to refer the case back to the chief justice for a new bench to be assigned. She wrote, “Not before this court,” withdrawing her right to preside over the proceeding. “Now, the court order will be returned to the register department, and the chief justice will decide in which court the case will be heard, ” Champaneri said.
Background of the case
The now-disqualified parliamentarian from Wayanad, Kerala, was convicted by a magistrate court on March 23 for his controversial remark "All thieves have Modi surname." Gandhi made the statement during a political campaign in 2019 in Kolar, Karnataka, linking Prime Minister Narendra Modi with fugitives like Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi. He had said, "Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi. How come all the thieves have 'Modi' as a common surname?"
Purnesh Modi, a former BJP Member of the Legislative Assembly, took exception to this, claiming that Gandhi humiliated and defamed persons with the Modi surname. The magistrate court in Surat accepted Purnesh Modi's contention that Gandhi intentionally insulted people with the 'Modi' surname.
In his 168-page judgment, Judge Hadirash Varma stated that since Gandhi is a Member of Parliament, his words have a greater impact, and he should have exercised restraint. "The accused had taken the reference of the surname of the current Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, to satisfy his political greed and insulted and defamed 13 crore people living in the whole of India having the surname 'Modi'," the judge held.
Gandhi was disqualified last month after receiving a two-year jail term, the maximum possible in a criminal defamation case and enough to bar him from parliament. The law mandates that if an MP is convicted for any offence for two years, their seat will be vacant. One can stay on as an MP only if the conviction is suspended.
In his appeal to the Surat court earlier this month, Gandhi argued that the trial court treated him harshly, overwhelmingly influenced by his status as an MP. However, Judge Robin Mongera disagreed, stating that Gandhi had "failed to demonstrate that by not staying the conviction and denying an opportunity to contest the election, an irreversible and irrevocable damage will be caused to him."
(With inputs from IANS)