Supreme Court

He said that this question will be asked to Rahul Gandhi, who is excited only by the stay on conviction, that what is his thinking now on the independence of the judiciary and other constitutional institutions of the country and his continuous derogatory statements about democracy in India. 

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh in a tweet said: “26 hours after Rahul Gandhi was ‘convicted’ by the Sessions Court in Surat, the notification of his disqualification as MP was issued. 26 hours have passed since the Supreme Court stayed his wholly unjustified conviction.”

"No doubt that the alleged utterances by the appellant are not in good taste. A person in public life is expected to exercise a degree of restraint while making public speeches," said a bench comprising of Justices B.R. Gavai, P.S. Narasimha, and Prashant Kumar Mishra in its order. 

It was on March 23 that  the lower court in Surat convicted Gandhi in the criminal defamation case, which dates back to the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign, revolving around Gandhi's comment, "How come all thieves have the common surname Modi."

“Re-list the case for hearing on interim relief and the regular bail application on September 4,” a bench Justices Sanjiv Khanna and S.V.N. Bhatti ordered while adjourning the matter. Appearing for Sisodia, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi urged the apex court to grant Sisodia interim bail to meet his ailing wife Seema, saying that it was a “humanitarian” and “genuine” issue.

“If a constituency in Parliament goes unrepresented, is it not a relevant ground (to suspend conviction)? No whisper by the trial judge for the need to impose the maximum sentence. Not only the right of one individual is being affected, but the entire electorate of the constituency,” observed a bench comprising of Justices B.R. Gavai, P.S. Narasimha, & Prashant Kumar Mishra during the hearing. 

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal argued that there exists a difference between "constituent power" and "legislative power" and a Legislative Assembly cannot be converted into a Constituent Assembly. "Luckily, we have no Maharaja exercising his power. We have a Parliament," he said.

"At the time of sentencing before the trial court, the petitioner (Rahul Gandhi) far from being repentant or contrite, displayed arrogance. He said he did not seek any mercy from the Court and would not apologise for any harm to reputation of the persons he had defamed," said the counter affidavit filed before the top court opposing Rahul Gandhi's plea for stay of conviction. 

A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Pankaj Mithal refused to quash the FIR lodged against Umar Ansari, who was co-accused for allegedly threatening government officials with payback at a public meeting stage in the Pahadpur area of Mau during the polls.

A bench comprising Justices B.R. Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra issued a notice on the question as to whether the conviction should be suspended or not. The bench was not inclined to pass any interim relief on Gandhi's prayer for suspension of his sentence.