Purnesh Modi, the complainant in a defamation case brought against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Gujarat, has filed a caveat with the Supreme Court. The complainant has asked the court to hear him if Gandhi decides to appeal the Gujarat High Court’s decision.
On July 7, the Gujarat High Court denied redress to a Congress politician. A bench led by Justice Hemant M Prachchhak noted that Modi surname holders and members of the Modi community were certainly identifiable and well-defined classes, and thus the gravity of Gandhi’s offence was heightened by the fact that the alleged defamation was of a large identifiable class, rather than just an individual.
The petitioner’s conviction jeopardises a substantial segment of the population’s treasured fundamental right to dignity and reputation. “The public standing of the petitioner, as well as the fact that any utterance of the petitioner attracts large-scale publication, gravely impairs and damages the complainant’s and the identifiable class in question’s reputation,” the HCs judgement stated.
The panel also took note of other allegations pending against Gandhi, including one made by Vir Savarkar’s grandson in Pune court, emphasising the need of purity in politics and representatives of the people being persons of clear precedence.
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