AHMADABAD: The Gujarat High Court will hear on Saturday Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s appeal challenging the order of the Surat sessions court declining a stay on his conviction in a criminal defamation case over his “Modi surname” remark.
Gandhi’s appeal will be heard by Justice Hemant Prachchhak on April 29, the cause list published by the high court said.
On April 26, when Gandhi’s lawyer PS Champaneri mentioned the case before Justice Gita Gopi, she recused herself from the hearing by saying “Not before me.” The development came a day after Gandhi moved the HC.
A metropolitan magistrate’s court in Surat on March 23 sentenced the former Congress president to two years in jail after convicting him under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 499 and 500 (criminal defamation) in a 2019 case filed by BJP Gujarat MLA Purnesh Modi.