India court rejects Rahul Gandhi’s plea to stay defamation ruling
Al JazeeraJul 07, 2023
The Facts
India's Supreme Court on Friday stayed senior opposition leader Rahul Gandhi's two-year prison sentence in a criminal defamation case over his remarks about PM Narendra Modi's surname.
This case dates back to April 2019, when Gandhi compared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to fugitive criminals by rhetorically stressing that "all thieves" have "the surname Modi" during an election rally — prompting former Gujarat state minister Purnesh Modi to file a private defamation complaint against him.
The Spin
Narrative A
The truth has finally come out about the so-called defamation case against Rahul Gandhi as a maximum punishment was utterly nonsensical given that his comments on Modi's surname were not offensive to the prime minister. This conviction was even more ridiculous as the original surname of Purnesh Modi is not Modi, and he belongs to the Modh Vanika Samaj community.
Narrative B
While the apex court's verdict temporarily suspending Gandhi's conviction in the 2019 slander case must be respected, it doesn't end the legal battle related to his derogatory remarks about the Modi surname. Purnesh Modi is right to explore additional legal avenues to hold Gandhi accountable for defaming natives who share the PM's surname.
