On Monday, BJP politician Purnesh Modi argued before the Supreme Court that the Congressman should have apologized for his remark that “All Thieves Have Modi Surname” but instead had displayed arrogance. According to Bar and Bench, BJP politician and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi, the complainant in Rahul Gandhi’s defamation case, told the Supreme Court on Monday that the Congress leader has shown arrogance rather than remorse over his “All Thieves have Modi surname” comment.
Rahul Gandhi defamed a group of people who were entirely innocent by his careless and malicious statements, the complainant told the Supreme Court in opposition to Gandhi’s request for a stay of judgment in the defamation case involving the remark about the “Modi surname.” “At the time of sentencing before the trial court, the petitioner, far from being repetant and contrite, displayed arrogance … The petitioner has maliciously and recklessly used scurrilous words against a large and totally blameless class of persons, who have caused no harm to the petitioner,” the reply stated, according to Bar and Bench.
Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly refused to retract the words in question, and the complainant further said as much in his answer. Gandhi’s appeal of the Gujarat High Court’s decision to not stay his conviction on July 7 will be heard by the Supreme Court on August 4 and is expected to be denied.
In March, a Surat metropolitan magistrate’s court condemned Rahul Gandhi to two years in prison for his remark that “why all thieves have Modi surname” in the 2019 case, which resulted in his disqualification as a member of the Lok Sabha. The Surat Sessions Court later declined to suspend the conviction in this case.
According to the former Wayanad MP for the Lok Sabha: “How come all thieves have the common surname Modi?” Prior to the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the opposition leader attacked Prime Minister Modi during a rally in Karnataka by bringing up the fact that Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi, two wanted businessmen, also share the same last name. According to a 2013 decision by the Supreme Court, Rahul lost his right to serve as an MP on March 24 after being found guilty. According to the judgement, if found guilty and given a term of two years or more, any MP or MLA is immediately disqualified.
