Congress leader Rahul Gandhi moved the Supreme Court challenging the Surat court order refusing to stay his conviction in a defamation case over an alleged remark about the "Modi" surname. The Gandhi scion has also sought an ad-interim ex-parte stay of the Gujarat High Court's order and an ad-interim stay of his conviction while the plea is pending.
Earlier, the Gujarat High Court had dismissed Rahul Gandhi's plea seeking a stay on his conviction. A criminal defamation case was filed against Gandhi by BJP Gujarat MLA Purnesh Modi, following his remarks made during a 2019 Karnataka election rally regarding the surname.