Hours after the Supreme Court put a stay on Rahul Gandhi's conviction in the 'Modi surname' defamation case, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma reacting to it remarked, "Heights of duplicity!".
Taking to Twitter, the chief minister made a sharp comment, "You abuse the judiciary when you get convicted, and when the same judiciary grants you bail, you say justice has prevailed."
Earlier today, the Supreme Court stayed the conviction of Congress leader and former Member of Parliament (MP) Rahul Gandhi in the criminal defamation case over the "why all thieves have Modi surname" remark. With the stay of his conviction, Gandhi's disqualification as MP also now remains in abeyance.
The apex court noted that the trial judge has awarded the maximum sentence of two years in the case and that it would have attracted disqualification if the sentence was a day lesser.
In April, Rahul Gandhi had also told a sessions court in Surat that his conviction by a magistrate’s court in the 2019 defamation case was erroneous, patently perverse, and he was sentenced in a manner so as to attract disqualification as a Member of Parliament.
He said that he was treated harshly by the trial court, which was “overwhelmingly influenced” by his status as an MP.
