Has Rahul Gandhi really defamed all Modis in India? No, say legal experts

Does Rahul Gandhi’s remark about thieves having the surname Modi amount to criminal defamation? No, say several legal experts.

On Thursday, a court in Surat sentenced the Congress politician to two years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 15,000 under Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code (defamation) and Section 500 (punishment for defamation). While campaigning for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Gandhi is alleged to have said, “Why do all the thieves, be it Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi or Narendra Modi, have Modi in their names?”

Though the court granted him bail for 30 days in order to allow him to appeal this verdict, on Friday, the Lok Sabha secretariat disqualified Gandhi from the house. Under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, a legislator sentenced to jail for two years or more stands to be disqualified from the date of conviction until six years after serving time.

Gandhi’s statement at the election rally was the basis for Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Purnesh Modi from Gujarat to file a case of criminal defamation against him. The BJP MLA claimed that the Congress politician had “defamed 13 crore people living in the whole of India having the surname ‘Modi’”.

The Surat court agreed. It said that Rahul Gandhi was a member...

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