NEW DELHI: The SC on Tuesday agreed to hear on July 21 an appeal of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi challenging the Gujarat High Court’s July 7 verdict which dismissed his plea seeking a stay on his conviction in a defamation case over his “Modi surname” remark.The appeal will be heard by a panel consisting of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Mishra after senior attorney Abhishek Singhvi, who is representing Gandhi, requested that the case be listed for hearing on July 21 or July 24. It will be heard on July 21, the bench announced. Gandhi claimed in his July 15 appeal that the judgement would stifle free speech, expression, thought, and statement if it is not overturned.He said that if the high court’s decision is not overturned, it will contribute to the repeated, systematic weakening of democratic institutions and the ensuing constriction of democracy, both of which will be extremely harmful to India’s political environment and future. Gandhi’s comment, “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?” made during an election rally at Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019, led Purnesh Modi, a former minister in the Gujarat government, to launch a criminal defamation lawsuit against Gandhi in 2019.
