"Not guilty of offence, no intention to apologise"

Rahul Gandhi, a leader in the Congress and a former member of parliament, has stated in his most recent document submitted to the Supreme Court that he does not need to apologize for his comment that "why all thieves share Modi surname" in order to request a stay of the criminal defamation case's conviction.

He claimed that the conviction is unjustifiable and that he would have "compound the offence" far earlier if he had needed to apologize.

Gandhi's plea to the Supreme Court accused Purnesh Modi of using defamatory language such as 'arrogant' to characterize the former Congress head solely because he has declined to apologize.

“Using the criminal process and the consequences under the Representation of Peoples Act to arm-twist Rahul Gandhi into apologizing for no fault, is gross abuse of the judicial process and ought not to be countenanced by this court”, ANI quoted the Congress leader's affidavit.

Gandhi, who was convicted in the case and afterward barred from serving as the Lok Sabha MP for Wayanad, said in his affidavit that he has an "exceptional" case because the offense was so minor and because it has caused him irreparable harm as an elected MP.

“On the other hand, there is no prejudice caused at all to the complainant. It is therefore prayed for that the conviction of Rahul Gandhi be stayed, enabling him to participate in the ongoing sittings of the Lok Sabha and the sessions thereafter”, the affidavit states.

Following a complaint from BJP member Purnesh Modi, a Gujarati magisterial court found Rahul Gandhi guilty on March 23 for his comments regarding the surname Modi. He received a two-year prison sentence, which made him ineligible to serve as a Lok Sabha MP.

On April 20, Rahul Gandhi filed a motion with the sessions court, which rejected his request for a stay of his conviction. Gandhi could have been more cautious in his remarks, according to his petition to the high court, which emphasized his stature as an MP.

Rahul Gandhi's revision application, which requested a stay of his conviction, was denied by the high court on July 7, and the court upheld this decision.