New Delhi: In a relief to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the Supreme Court, in an interim order on Friday, stayed his conviction in the criminal defamation case over ‘Modi surname’ remark, while maintaining that his remarks are not in good taste, especially for a person in public life.
No doubt that the utterances by the petitioner were not in good taste, the Supreme Court said today, “and the petitioner ought to have been more careful in making speeches”.
The trial judge has awarded the maximum sentence of two years in the case, the top court observed, pointing out that it would not have attracted disqualification if the sentence was a day lesser.
A Supreme Court bench comprising Justices BR Gavai, PS Narasimha, and Sanjay Kumar was hearing Rahul Gandhi’s plea for stay on his conviction. The Gujarat High Court had earlier refused to stay in the criminal defamation case. After his conviction in the case, Gandhi was disqualified as MP from Wayanad on March 24. Earlier in March, a magisterial court convicted Rahul Gandhi for his ‘Modi’ surname remarks ahead of the 2019 national polls.
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