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Showing posts from March, 2023

Conviction and sentence in Rahul Gandhi Defamation case- A failure of Indian Trial Judiciary

  The recent conviction of Mr Rahul Gandhi for the Libel that he committed in Kolar, Karnataka way back on April 13 2019 was for a remark ” why do all of these thieves have Modi Modi Modi in their names? Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi and if we search a bit more many more such Modis will come out. ” Admittedly, it was a verbal statement made in a political meeting. It became Libel when the video was circulated around India including Surat. Three people are most aggrieved by the statement, Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi (for obvious reasons) cannot fight defamation complaints in India. Mr Narendra Modi maintained his enigmatic silence. But, another BJP MLA Poornesh Modi found the matter to be slanderous, and libellous and lodged a Criminal Complaint as it tarnished the reputation of the Modi community. After a full-fledged trial, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Surat convicted Mr Gandhi of Criminal Defamation and sentenced him to undergo a sentence of 2 years imprisonment(arguably the max