Guj court rejects Rahul's plea for suspension of conviction in defamation case
Darpan News Desk IANS, 20 Apr, 2023 11:09 AM
Surat, April 20 (IANS) The sessions court in Surat on Thursday dismissed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's plea seeking suspension of his conviction in the defamation case that led to his disqualification from Parliament.
The court had convicted Gandhi on March 23 for his remarks made during an election rally in Kolar in April 2019, where he had said that "all people with the Modi surname are thieves".
The court sentenced him to two years in prison and he was disqualified as a member of Lok Sabha the next day.
Rahul Gandhi's lawyers had filed two applications, one for bail till the disposal of his appeal and another for suspension of his conviction until the appeal is decided.
Senior advocate R.S. Cheema, appearing for the Congress leader, argued that only an aggrieved person could file a defamation complaint as per the law, while also pointing out that the speech was not defamatory until it was taken out of context.
The case was filed by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi, who had claimed that Rahul Gandhi's statement had defamed all the people with the Modi surname.
The court had found Rahul Gandhi guilty under IPC Sections 499 (defamation) and 500 (punishment for defamation).
He had claimed that the trial court treated him harshly because of his status as an MP.
Cheema also questioned the Surat court's jurisdiction, pointing out that the speech was made in Kolar.
The court rejected Rahul Gandhi's plea, which means that he cannot be reinstated as an MP.
It also imposed the maximum punishment permissible under the law, and Rahul Gandhi's punishment could not have been even a day less to allow him to retain his seat as an MP.
The WHO had issued an alert on four India-made cough and cold syrups "potentially linked with acute kidney injuries and 66 deaths among children in Gambia". The WHO has informed that as per the tentative results received by it, out of the 23 samples of the products under reference which were tested, four samples have been found to contain Diethylene Glycol/Ethylene Glycol.
The visa backlog issue is of utmost concern to the Indian students who are trying to return to educational institutions in Australia following the Covid pandemic. Jaishankar, who is on his second visit to Australia, said he was assured that the situation has improved and about 77,000 Indian students are back in Australia.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) of Special Cell, Jasmeet Singh said that the arrested gangsters, identified as Deepak Arora alias Deepa alias Popat and Gulshan Kumar alias Gulia, were arrested from the Lado Sarai area in the national capital.
BJP leader Bagga had moved the High Court while challenging the non-bailable arrest warrant issued against him by a Mohali Court in May. While pronouncing the judgment in Bagga case, Justice Anoop Chitkara said the court had seen all the tweets and posts placed on record by the parties.
In view of the current escalation of hostilities in Ukraine, Indian nationals are advised to avoid all non-essential travel to and within Ukraine. They must strictly follow the safety and security guidelines issued by the Ukrainian Government and local authorities, the advisory said.
India reported 1,957 fresh Covid cases in the last 24 hours, against 2,424 Covid cases recorded on the previous day, said the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday. In the same period, the country has recorded 8 more Covid related deaths, taking the death toll to 5,28,822 as per the report.
