'Name-calling': Big Relief for Rahul Gandhi as Patna HC Stays Trial Proceedings in Sushil Modi Defamation Suit

After the setback in the form of a dismissal of his plea for a stay on his conviction by a Gujarat court, there appears to be a big relief for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the ‘Modi’ surname defamation case as the Patna High Court on Monday stayed the proceedings in the subordinate courts till the next hearing, listed for May 16.

Patna’s Special Judicial Magistrate Aadi Dev had set the date for the next hearing on April 25 after Rahul failed to obey the summons on the 12th. Dev had asked the Congress leader’s counsel to ensure his physical appearance before the court. But on April 22, Rahul Gandhi approached the Patna HC, seeking the quashing of the summons issued by the lower court in the defamation case filed against him by BJP’s Rajya Sabha member and former Bihar deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi.

Now that there is a stay on any proceedings in the lower courts, speculation over Rahul Gandhi coming to Bihar has ended.

Rahul’s argument

Speaking exclusively to CNN-News18, Rahul Gandhi’s advocate Ansul confirmed that the next date of hearing is May 16. “An application was filed in 2019 for quashing the order taking cognisance. But after the conviction of Shri Rahul Gandhi in Surat, we added a ground to that by saying that since he was convicted over there, he cannot be convicted for the same offence again, that is the principle of double jeopardy which is there in Article 20(2) of the Constitution and section 300 of CrPC. Based on that and honourable Supreme Court’s judgement, the prosecution was not maintainable in view of the changed situation.”

On being asked whether the allegation made by Sushil Modi, who belongs to the OBC community unlike Surat petitioner MLA Purnesh Modi, would make a difference in the case, Ansul said, “These statements won’t matter. The whole issue is the statement allegedly made by Rahul Gandhi in 2019 in Kolar during an election rally. The contention of the complainant in Bihar and Surat was that the statement defamed everybody having the title ‘Modi’ and consequently anywhere in the country. The issue was decided against Rahul Gandhi in Surat and since the issue is the same and the facts are the same, he cannot be convicted again. The ADJ in Surat has dismissed the petition seeking the stay of conviction; we are going to Gujarat High Court. We are contesting that since he is convicted in Surat so here the prosecution is not maintainable. On the 16th, arguments will take place from both sides.”

What is double jeopardy?

The defamation case in other courts such as in Patna will not be tried under Article 20 (2) of the Indian constitution that defines double jeopardy: “No person shall be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once”. This provision enshrines the concept of autrefois convict in section 300 of Criminal Procedural Law that no one convicted of an offence can be tried or punished a second time. However, it does not extend to others if acquitted, and so if a person is acquitted of a crime, he can be retried. In India, protection against autrefois acquits a statutory right, not a fundamental one. Such protection is provided by the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure rather than by the Constitution, a procedural defence that prevents an accused person from being tried again on the same (or similar) charges and on the same facts, following a valid acquittal or conviction.

On April 22, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was disqualified as an MP after conviction and two-year sentencing by a Surat court in the defamation case, moved out all his belongings from the bungalow allotted to him and shifted to his mother Sonia Gandhi’s residence.

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