Rahul Gandhi moves Gujarat HC for stay on defamation conviction
Darpan News Desk IANS, 25 Apr, 2023 04:03 PM
Ahmedabad, April 25 (IANS) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday filed an appeal in the Gujarat High Court, seeking a stay on his conviction by a magistrate's court in a criminal defamation case.
The appeal will be heard by a single-judge bench in due course. On April 20, a sessions court in Surat dismissed Gandhi's plea for the suspension of his conviction.
Gandhi, now disqualified as a parliamentarian, was convicted by a magistrate's court on March 23 for his controversial remark, "All thieves have Modi surname," made during a political campaign in Karnataka's Kolar in 2019. Former BJP MLA Purnesh Modi claimed that Gandhi's statement humiliated and defamed persons with the Modi surname.
The magistrate court accepted Modi's contention that Gandhi intentionally insulted people with the 'Modi' surname. The sessions judge refused to stay the conviction, leading to Gandhi's present plea before the High Court.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday laid the foundation stone for the Sant Attar Singh State Institute of Medical Sciences at Mastuana Sahib in Sangrur district to come up over an area of 25 acres with an estimated cost of nearly Rs 345 crore.
The Customs officials at Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow have found six gold bars in a dustbin near the immigration area at the airport. The confiscated gold bars are valued at Rs 36.60 lakh in the market.
Of the arrested trio, one was caught with 250 gms Mephedrone valued at Rs 37.50 lakh and the other with 2.70 kgs of Mephedrone worth Rs 4.14 crore in the market. After sustained interrogation, the woman accused revealed details on their two associates of whom one was picked up late on Tuesday (August 2) and the fifth was caught with the narcotics consignment on Wednesday (August 3).
Announcing an amnesty for defaulting domestic electricity consumers, Power Minister Harbhajan Singh said the outstanding electricity bills till December 31, 2021, of those who have not paid their dues till June 30, 2022, have been waived.
During the searches carried out at the factory premises over a period of two days, starting July 29, a large consignment of Ephedrine weighing 661 kg was recovered along with over 5200 kg of raw material, which was to be used in the manufacture of Ephedrine.
According to the police, the children had gone to take bath in the pond located between Methan and Sarawan villages. The deceased, all aged between five and 10 years, were the children of farm labourers working in the area. After the local people informed the police about the incident, the latter fished out the bodies with the help of firemen and divers. Th