Thread by @barandbench

Gujarat High Court begins hearing the plea of Congress Rahul Gandhi seeking stay on his conviction and jail term imposed on him by a Surat Court for his "All thieves have Modi surname" remark.

@RahulGandhi

#RahulGandhi #GujaratHighCourt #DefamationCase #ModiSurname

Justice Hemant Prachchhak orders trial court to place before him the original "Record and Proceedings" of the case.
"I will conclude the hearings today or mostly day after tomorrow. Then, I will not be available here in India as I have to go out on May 4," Justice Prachchhak.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Senior Advocate Nirupam Nanavati for complainant Purnesh Modi makes submissions.

Modi: The Court has to consider the seriousness of the offence and what is its impact on the victim and the society at large.
One who is convicted and ordered to suffer sentence of 2 years or… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Nanavati: Court has not disqualified you the Parliament has disqualified you. Neither the complainant has disqualified you so you cannot argue that you are suffering an irreversible loss. That is the law made by the Parliament itself.
So the seriousness of the offence need not… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Nanavati: We have to maintain sanctity and dignity of the highest institution of our country. If the law bars an individual from being member of Parliament, on his conviction, then they cannot argue against it.

He now cites Lily Thomas vs Union of India, case, wherein the… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Nanavati: Thus, the powers under section 389 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) have to be exercised in rarest of rare cases, which I don't say is a death sentence case or something. But yes, they will have to show that the conviction is a frivolous one.

#RahulGandhi… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Nanavati is now reading the statements of witnesses, who testified against Gandhi for his remark, in the trial court.

"The defamatory sentence covers every Modi and I am Purnesh Modi, I am affected by this utterance. If you are a motormouth and are facing 12 such cases even… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Nanavati: Even after his conviction he hasn't stopped from making comments.

Cites a newspaper report. Reads, "He has said, My name is Gandhi and I am not Savarkar and won't apologise."

He has said that, in the news article, that they (BJP) has given me the best gift ever, so… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Nanavati: He has said he won't backdown and has said that he won't be scared or affected because of disqualification or jail term. He has said he won't be scared of he is disqualified forever. This was his public stand. But in courtroom he has changed his stand.

In public, he… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Nanavati is now reading Rahul Gandhi's statements, wherein he has told the trial court that "he doesn't remember his speech" and that the defamatory line is "a false statement."

How can he contradict? On one hand he says he doesn't remember on the other he says it is a false… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Nanavati: Now I will highlight about his conduct Milords. Please consider his conduct that is an important factor.
At least two to three more cases have been filed against him for his utterances against Veer Savarkar in Cambridge. These cases are filed after the Surat Case.
His… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…