The Evening Wrap: Gujarat HC dismisses Rahul Gandhi's plea against conviction in defamation case

The Gujarat High Court on July 7, 2023, refused to stay the conviction and suspend the two years jail term awarded to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the criminal defamation case in which he has been sentenced to two years in jail by a court in Surat. The case was related to remarks about the Modi surname during a rally in 2019 while campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka. After he was convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment in March this year, he was disqualified as as a Member of Parliament from Lok Sabha. Justice Helmand Prachchhak of the High Court, who completed the hearing on May 2, dismissed Gandhi’s plea to stay the conviction. The High Court held that Gandhi’s plea was on absolute non-existent ground, as 10 criminal cases are pending against him in various places. The court said a Representative of the People should be a man of clear character. The court also cited complaint filed by grandson of Veer Savarkar. The criminal defamation complaint was filed against Gandhi by BJP legislator Purnesh Modi, who had approached the court contending that Gandhi’s statement, “why do all thieves have Modi surname in common” had tarnished and defamed the Modi community. The remark was made by Gandhi during the last parliamentary polls in 2019 while addressing a campaign rally in Karnataka. After the trial court’s judgment of conviction and sentence, Surat Sessions court had declined to stay the conviction while his sentence was suspended and he was granted bail till the disposal of his appeal against the conviction. Brij Bhushan summoned in IPC case; minor’s withdrawal of sexual harassment complaint accepted by Delhi HC Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court took cognisance of the Delhi Police’s charge-sheet against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on Friday, in a case filed by six adult women wrestlers where the charges included outraging modesty and criminal intimidation. On the same day, the Delhi High Court allowed a minor wrestler to withdraw her plea of sexual harassment against Singh. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Harjeet Singh Jaspal issued a summons to Singh and his co-accused, Vinod Tomar, to appear before the Rouse Avenue court on July 18, set as the next date of hearing in the sexual harassment case as both the accused reside in Delhi. On June 15, the Delhi police had filed a 1,000-page charge sheet against Singh and Tomar, which includes the testimonies of witnesses, victims and other concerned persons. The detailed summons order stated that, after hearing the submissions and carefully considering the police report along with its annexed documents, including the statements of the victims, the court took cognisance of the offences committed under Sections 354 (outraging modesty), 354A (sexually coloured remarks) and 354D (stalking), 506 (para 1) (criminal intimidation) and 109 (abetment to offense) of the Indian Penal Code. Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court allowed a minor wrestler, one of the seven female grapplers who had accused Singh of sexual harassment, to withdraw a plea relating to hearing of the matter by a competent court. The issue arose as the cases related to sexual offences against minors have to be heard by a special court set up under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The minor wrestler’s lawyer told the High Court that, in view of the cancellation report filed by the Delhi Police before the trial court, the plea in the High Court had become infructuous. Several Olympic and World Championship medal-winning wrestlers, including Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, and Sangeeta Phogat, protested for months in New Delhi demanding the arrest of Singh for allegedly sexually harassing several women grapplers, including a minor. The police only filed an FIR against the accused BJP MP after the intervention of the Supreme Court last month. Sensing a further delay in the investigation, the wrestlers had threatened to immerse their medals in the river Ganga. Sports Minister Anurag Thakur met the wrestlers and assured them his full support and protection, after which the protest was suspended. T.N. Minister Senthilbalaji’s arrest: Petition at Madras High Court questions Governor’s authority to keep his dismissal order in abeyance A new public interest litigation petition has been filed at the Madras High Court, questioning Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi’s authority to withhold his order dismissing arrested Minister V. Senthilbalaji from the Council of Ministers, following his arrest by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in a money laundering case on June 14, and his subsequently remaining in judicial custody. Chief Justice S.V. Gangapurwala and Justice P.D. Audikesavalu took up the new case for hearing along with three other petitions which have already been filed questioning the authority of the arrested Minister, now recuperating at a private hospital in Chennai after undergoing a beating heart coronary artery bypass surgery on June 22, to continue in the Cabinet without any portfolio. Senior Counsel V. Raghavachari, representing one of the petitioners, said the litigants had no issues with the continuation of Senthilbalaji as a Member of the Legislative Assembly since the Representation of the People Act, 1951 provides for disqualification only if a legislator is convicted in a criminal case and imposed with two or more years of imprisonment. He clarified that the litigants were only against Senthilbalaji’s continuation in the Council of Ministers, that too without any portfolio, despite facing a case involving moral turpitude and having been arrested by the ED. “When a Minister is expected to perform a public duty, how can there be a Minister without a portfolio,” the senior counsel wondered. On his part, advocate K. Sakthivel, representing M.L. Ravi of the Desiya Makkal Sakthi Katchi who has filed the current PIL petition, stated that the High Court had heard the previous PIL petitions, filed against the Minister, on June 26 and adjourned the hearing to July 7, 2023. In the meantime, Governor R.N. Ravi had passed had an order on June 29, 2023 dismissing the Minister. However, within hours after passing the dismissal order, the Governor backtracked and kept his order in abeyance. He also decided to seek the Attorney General’s opinion on the issue as advised by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Attacking this decision, Sakthivel contended that the Governor had no authority whatsoever to keep his own order in abeyance. “Once an order is passed by the Governor, he becomes functus officio (with no further official authority). Nowhere in the Constitution, it has been stated that the Governor can review, withdraw or keep his order in abeyance. Governor is a constitutional authority and he is not subordinate to Centre,” Sakthivel argued. When the Chief Justice wanted to know whether the High Court, under Article 226 (its writ jurisdiction) of the Constitution, was empowered to issue directions to the Governor and asked for precedents, if any, Sakthivel sought time to circulate the judgements on the issue. Hence, the Bench adjourned the hearing by a week. The Chief Justice requested Advocate General R. Shunmugasundaram too, to submit by next week, the authorities that he would be relying upon to oppose the cases before the court. NCP has not split, meeting held by Sharad Pawar not official: Praful Patel NCP leader Praful Patel on July 7 said the party had not broken up, and Ajit Pawar was unanimously appointed as party president by its legislature and organisational wings on June 30. Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, Patel said they had submitted a petition to the Election Commission of India (ECI) with affidavits of more than 40 MLAs, informing it about Ajit Pawar’s appointment and staking claim over the “party name and symbol”. The meeting of the national working committee of the NCP held by Sharad Pawar in Delhi on July 6 was not official, he claimed. The organisational structure of the party was completely “flawed,” Patel, a veteran NCP leader, said. “An important meeting was held on June 30 at ‘Devgiri’ (Ajit Pawar’s official residence in Mumbai) where legislators, office-bearers and party workers were present. They unanimously appointed Ajit Pawar as their leader,” he said. Immediately after the appointment, Ajit Pawar conveyed to the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar that Praful Patel has been appointed as national working president, Patel said. Ajit Pawar himself was appointed as leader of the NCP legislature party, Anil Patel continued to be the party whip in Assembly and the Legislative Council chairperson was informed that Amol Mitkari was appointed as whip in the Council, he said. “Who will determine (which is) the (real) political party? It is in the domain of the Election Commission of India while actions of the legislators is the domain of the Speaker,” Patel said. Jayant Patil (who took action against Ajit Pawar faction leaders after they joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra on July 2) was not the party president as per its constitution, and his petition to Maharashtra Speaker seeking to disqualify rebel leaders was invalid, Patel asserted. The decisions taken by the Sharad Pawar group, expelling or disqualifying leaders of the Ajit Pawar faction, were illegal and not applicable, he said. Chaos in Tripura assembly over porn clip watched by BJP MLA, 5 members suspended The opening day of the budget session of Tripura assembly on Friday witnessed an uproar over the opposition’s demand for action against BJP MLA Jadab Lal Nath who was caught on camera watching a porn clip in the earlier session. Amid chaos, the Speaker suspended five MLAs from TIPRA, CPI(M) and Congress for the day on the recommendation of the leader of the house, Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha. When the house met, the opposition members started raising the demand of action against Nath who had earlier confessed to having “briefly seen the porn video” after allegedly receiving a link on his mobile phone. He pleaded innocence all through. The agitating members disrupted the budget speech of finance minister Pranjit Singh Roy as they insisted on discussion and action on the ‘porn clip’ issue. Senior Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman sprinkled what he called holy Ganga water on the treasury members to “purify the house”. TIPRA members Brishaketu Debbarma and Ranjit Debbarma climbed on top of their desks and screamed at the Speaker. At one point CPI(M), TIPRA and Congress members rushed to the well of the house and started raining slogans. Amid pandemonium, Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha requested the Speaker to suspend members disrupting the budget proceedings. The Speaker immediately ordered suspension of Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman, CPI(M)’s Nayan Sarkar, TIPRA MLAs – Brishaketu Debbarma, Ranjit Debbarma and Nandita Reang. In Brief: Sexual harassment at workplace cases: SC refuses to entertain plea to protect complainants, witnesses The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea seeking directions to protect complainants and witnesses in sexual harassment at workplace cases from victimisation or retaliation by accused persons or organisations involved. A bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice P.S. Narasimha noted that the top court had in 2020 refused to interfere with a similar prayer. The top court said the petitioner should give specific examples to support her case. The top court was hearing a plea filed by legal professional Sunita Thawani seeking directions for protection of witnesses and complainants in cases of sexual harassment at the workplace. For the third time this week, Earth sets a heat record Earth’s average temperature set a new unofficial record high on July 6, the third such milestone in a week that already rated as the hottest on record. The planetary average hit 63 degrees Fahrenheit, 17.23 degrees Celsius, surpassing the 62.9 and 17.18-degree marks set on Tuesday and equalled on Wednesday, according to data from the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer, a tool that uses satellite data and computer simulations to measure the world’s condition. That average includes places that are sweltering under dangerous heat — such as Jingxing, China, which checked in almost 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius) — and the merely unusually warm, such as Antarctica, where temperatures across much of the continent were as much as eight degrees Fahrenheit (4.5 degrees Celsius) above normal this week. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 07 July 2023 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Gujarat High Court dismisses Rahul Gandhi’s plea against his conviction in defamation case The [Gujarat High Court on July 7, 2023, refused to stay the conviction and suspend the two years jail term awarded to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi]( in the criminal defamation case in which he has been sentenced to two years in jail by a court in Surat. The case was related to remarks about the Modi surname during a rally in 2019 while campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka. After he was convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment in March this year, he was disqualified as as a Member of Parliament from Lok Sabha. Justice Helmand Prachchhak of the High Court, who completed the hearing on May 2, dismissed Gandhi’s plea to stay the conviction. The High Court held that Gandhi’s plea was on absolute non-existent ground, as 10 criminal cases are pending against him in various places. The court said a Representative of the People should be a man of clear character. The court also cited complaint filed by grandson of Veer Savarkar. The criminal defamation complaint was filed against Gandhi by BJP legislator Purnesh Modi, who had approached the court contending that Gandhi’s statement, “why do all thieves have Modi surname in common” had tarnished and defamed the Modi community. The remark was made by Gandhi during the last parliamentary polls in 2019 while addressing a campaign rally in Karnataka. After the trial court’s judgment of conviction and sentence, Surat Sessions court had declined to stay the conviction while his sentence was suspended and he was granted bail till the disposal of his appeal against the conviction. Brij Bhushan summoned in IPC case; minor’s withdrawal of sexual harassment complaint accepted by Delhi HC [Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court took cognisance of the Delhi Police’s charge-sheet against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh]( on Friday, in a case filed by six adult women wrestlers where the charges included outraging modesty and criminal intimidation. On the same day, the Delhi High Court allowed a minor wrestler to withdraw her plea of sexual harassment against Singh. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Harjeet Singh Jaspal issued a summons to Singh and his co-accused, Vinod Tomar, to appear before the Rouse Avenue court on July 18, set as the next date of hearing in the sexual harassment case as both the accused reside in Delhi. On June 15, the Delhi police had filed a 1,000-page charge sheet against Singh and Tomar, which includes the testimonies of witnesses, victims and other concerned persons. The detailed summons order stated that, after hearing the submissions and carefully considering the police report along with its annexed documents, including the statements of the victims, the court took cognisance of the offences committed under Sections 354 (outraging modesty), 354A (sexually coloured remarks) and 354D (stalking), 506 (para 1) (criminal intimidation) and 109 (abetment to offense) of the Indian Penal Code. Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court allowed a minor wrestler, one of the seven female grapplers who had accused Singh of sexual harassment, to withdraw a plea relating to hearing of the matter by a competent court. The issue arose as the cases related to sexual offences against minors have to be heard by a special court set up under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The minor wrestler’s lawyer told the High Court that, in view of the cancellation report filed by the Delhi Police before the trial court, the plea in the High Court had become infructuous. Several Olympic and World Championship medal-winning wrestlers, including Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, and Sangeeta Phogat, protested for months in New Delhi demanding the arrest of Singh for allegedly sexually harassing several women grapplers, including a minor. The police only filed an FIR against the accused BJP MP after the intervention of the Supreme Court last month. Sensing a further delay in the investigation, the wrestlers had threatened to immerse their medals in the river Ganga. Sports Minister Anurag Thakur met the wrestlers and assured them his full support and protection, after which the protest was suspended. T.N. Minister Senthilbalaji’s arrest: Petition at Madras High Court questions Governor’s authority to keep his dismissal order in abeyance [A new public interest litigation petition has been filed at the Madras High Court, questioning Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi’s authority to withhold his order dismissing arrested Minister V. Senthilbalaji]( from the Council of Ministers, following his arrest by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in a money laundering case on June 14, and his subsequently remaining in judicial custody. Chief Justice S.V. Gangapurwala and Justice P.D. Audikesavalu took up the new case for hearing along with three other petitions which have already been filed questioning the authority of the arrested Minister, now recuperating at a private hospital in Chennai after undergoing a beating heart coronary artery bypass surgery on June 22, to continue in the Cabinet without any portfolio. Senior Counsel V. Raghavachari, representing one of the petitioners, said the litigants had no issues with the continuation of Senthilbalaji as a Member of the Legislative Assembly since the Representation of the People Act, 1951 provides for disqualification only if a legislator is convicted in a criminal case and imposed with two or more years of imprisonment. He clarified that the litigants were only against Senthilbalaji’s continuation in the Council of Ministers, that too without any portfolio, despite facing a case involving moral turpitude and having been arrested by the ED. “When a Minister is expected to perform a public duty, how can there be a Minister without a portfolio,” the senior counsel wondered. On his part, advocate K. Sakthivel, representing M.L. Ravi of the Desiya Makkal Sakthi Katchi who has filed the current PIL petition, stated that the High Court had heard the previous PIL petitions, filed against the Minister, on June 26 and adjourned the hearing to July 7, 2023. In the meantime, Governor R.N. Ravi had passed had an order on June 29, 2023 dismissing the Minister. However, within hours after passing the dismissal order, the Governor backtracked and kept his order in abeyance. He also decided to seek the Attorney General’s opinion on the issue as advised by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Attacking this decision, Sakthivel contended that the Governor had no authority whatsoever to keep his own order in abeyance. “Once an order is passed by the Governor, he becomes functus officio (with no further official authority). Nowhere in the Constitution, it has been stated that the Governor can review, withdraw or keep his order in abeyance. Governor is a constitutional authority and he is not subordinate to Centre,” Sakthivel argued. When the Chief Justice wanted to know whether the High Court, under Article 226 (its writ jurisdiction) of the Constitution, was empowered to issue directions to the Governor and asked for precedents, if any, Sakthivel sought time to circulate the judgements on the issue. Hence, the Bench adjourned the hearing by a week. The Chief Justice requested Advocate General R. Shunmugasundaram too, to submit by next week, the authorities that he would be relying upon to oppose the cases before the court. NCP has not split, meeting held by Sharad Pawar not official: Praful Patel [NCP leader Praful Patel on July 7 said the party had not broken up, and Ajit Pawar was unanimously appointed as party president]( by its legislature and organisational wings on June 30. Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, Patel said they had submitted a petition to the Election Commission of India (ECI) with affidavits of more than 40 MLAs, informing it about Ajit Pawar’s appointment and staking claim over the “party name and symbol”. The meeting of the national working committee of the NCP held by Sharad Pawar in Delhi on July 6 was not official, he claimed. The organisational structure of the party was completely “flawed,” Patel, a veteran NCP leader, said. “An important meeting was held on June 30 at ‘Devgiri’ (Ajit Pawar’s official residence in Mumbai) where legislators, office-bearers and party workers were present. They unanimously appointed Ajit Pawar as their leader,” he said. Immediately after the appointment, Ajit Pawar conveyed to the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar that Praful Patel has been appointed as national working president, Patel said. Ajit Pawar himself was appointed as leader of the NCP legislature party, Anil Patel continued to be the party whip in Assembly and the Legislative Council chairperson was informed that Amol Mitkari was appointed as whip in the Council, he said. “Who will determine (which is) the (real) political party ? It is in the domain of the Election Commission of India while actions of the legislators is the domain of the Speaker,” Patel said. Jayant Patil (who took action against Ajit Pawar faction leaders after they joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra on July 2) was not the party president as per its constitution, and his petition to Maharashtra Speaker seeking to disqualify rebel leaders was invalid, Patel asserted. The decisions taken by the Sharad Pawar group, expelling or disqualifying leaders of the Ajit Pawar faction, were illegal and not applicable, he said. Chaos in Tripura assembly over porn clip watched by BJP MLA, 5 members suspended [The opening day of the budget session of Tripura assembly on Friday witnessed an uproar over the opposition’s demand for action against BJP MLA Jadab Lal Nath who was caught on camera watching a porn clip in the earlier session](. Amid chaos, the Speaker suspended five MLAs from TIPRA, CPI(M) and Congress for the day on the recommendation of the leader of the house, Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha. When the house met, the opposition members started raising the demand of action against Nath who had earlier confessed to having “briefly seen the porn video” after allegedly receiving a link on his mobile phone. He pleaded innocence all through. The agitating members disrupted the budget speech of finance minister Pranjit Singh Roy as they insisted on discussion and action on the ‘porn clip’ issue. Senior Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman sprinkled what he called holy Ganga water on the treasury members to “purify the house”. TIPRA members Brishaketu Debbarma and Ranjit Debbarma climbed on top of their desks and screamed at the Speaker. At one point CPI(M), TIPRA and Congress members rushed to the well of the house and started raining slogans. Amid pandemonium, Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha requested the Speaker to suspend members disrupting the budget proceedings. The Speaker immediately ordered suspension of Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman, CPI(M)’s Nayan Sarkar, TIPRA MLAs – Brishaketu Debbarma, Ranjit Debbarma and Nandita Reang. In Brief: Sexual harassment at workplace cases: SC refuses to entertain plea to protect complainants, witnesses The [Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea seeking directions to protect complainants and witnesses in sexual harassment at workplace cases]( from victimisation or retaliation by accused persons or organisations involved. A bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice P.S. Narasimha noted that the top court had in 2020 refused to interfere with a similar prayer. The top court said the petitioner should give specific examples to support her case. The top court was hearing a plea filed by legal professional Sunita Thawani seeking directions for protection of witnesses and complainants in cases of sexual harassment at the workplace. For the third time this week, Earth sets a heat record [Earth’s average temperature set a new unofficial record high on July 6]( the third such milestone in a week that already rated as the hottest on record. The planetary average hit 63 degrees Fahrenheit, 17.23 degrees Celsius, surpassing the 62.9 and 17.18-degree marks set on Tuesday and equalled on Wednesday, according to data from the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer, a tool that uses satellite data and computer simulations to measure the world’s condition. That average includes places that are sweltering under dangerous heat — such as Jingxing, China, which checked in almost 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius) — and the merely unusually warm, such as Antarctica, where temperatures across much of the continent were as much as eight degrees Fahrenheit (4.5 degrees Celsius) above normal this week. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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