Mamata Banerjee hails SC order staying Rahul Gandhi's conviction in Modi surname case

KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday hailed the Supreme Court order staying Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's conviction in a 2019 defamation case over his Modi surname remark.

"I am happy with the news about the MP-ship of @RahulGandhi. This will further strengthen the resolve of the INDIA alliance to unitedly fight for our motherland and win. A victory of the judiciary!" Banerjee tweeted.

TMC MP Mahua Moitra retweeted her party leader's comments, adding: “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice. United INDIA @RahulGandhi”.

The Lok Sabha speaker can now revive his membership on his own or Gandhi, armed with the apex court order, seek restoration of his status as an MP.

The Supreme Court today stayed Rahul Gandhi's conviction paving the way for revival of his Lok Sabha membership.

A three-judge bench of Justices B R Gavai, P S Narasimha and Sanjay Kumar said no reason was given by the trial court judge while convicting Gandhi except that he was admonished by the apex court in a contempt case.

Purnesh Modi had filed the criminal defamation case in 2019 against Gandhi over his "How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?" remark made during an election rally in Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019.


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