Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that he is not guilty of any offence and will not apologise for his Modi surname remark which led to his conviction in a criminal defamation case, reported Live Law.
The case is related to Gandhi’s speech ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in which he had referred to thieves as having the surname Modi. A Surat court had sentenced him to two years in jail on March 24. This led to his immediate disqualification as a Lok Sabha MP.
On July 15, Gandhi moved the Supreme Court against a Gujarat High Court order that refused to put on hold his conviction and the two-year jail term in the case. If his conviction is not stayed, Gandhi will have to complete his jail term. The politician will also be prohibited from contesting elections for the next six years.
On Wednesday, Gandhi said that he has always maintained that he is not guilty of offence and that the conviction is unsustainable. He added that if he wanted to apologise, he would have done it much earlier.
“Using the criminal process and the consequences under the Representation of Peoples’ Act to arm twist the petitioner [Gandhi] into apologising for no fault, is gross abuse of the…
Read more