SC issues notice to Gujarat govt, Purnesh Modi in Rahul Gandhi defamation case

The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to the Gujarat government in Rahul Gandhi’s Modi surname remark case. SC also issued notice to complainant & Gujarat BJP MLA Purnesh Modi on Gandhi’s plea and posted the matter for hearing on August 4. SC said limited question at this stage is whether the conviction deserves to be suspended.

"Court has issued a notice and we have to file the reply within two weeks," said Harshit Tolia, lawyer of Purnesh Modi, after the hearing.

A bench of Justices B R Gavai and P K Mishra heard the matter.


The Congress leader had challenged the Gujarat High Court’s order which declined to stay his conviction in the criminal defamation case. He was sentenced to two years in jail by Surat court over 'Modi surname' remark back in 2019.

Gandhi in his appeal said that if the Gujarat HC judgment that was passed on July 7 is not stayed, it lead to "throttling of free speech, expression, thought, and statement".

A bench headed by CJI D Y Chandrachud had on July 18 agreed had to hear Gandhi's plea after senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi mentioned the matter and sought urgent hearing.

Gandhi in his appeal said that if the Gujarat HC judgment that was passed on July 7 is not stayed, it may lead to "throttling of free speech, expression, thought, and statement".

Purnesh Modi, a former minister in the Gujarat government, had filed a criminal defamation case in 2019 against Gandhi over his "how all thieves have Modi as the common surname" remark made during an election rally at Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019. He was apparently referring to businessmen Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi, two fugitive prominent businessmen wanted in India.

The Congress leader was disqualified from Lok Sabha on March 24 after a Gujarat court convicted and sentenced him to two-year imprisonment.