Rahul Gandhi's conviction stayed: Priyanka thanks SC, cites Gautam Buddha's quote

New Delhi: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday hailed the Supreme Court ruling staying the conviction of Rahul Gandhi in a 2019 defamation case and cited a quote by Gautam Buddha that "Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth".

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the conviction of Gandhi in the defamation case over his Modi surname remark. Reacting to the development. Priyanka Gandhi said on Twitter, "'Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth ~Gautama Buddha'." The Congress general secretary thanked the apex court for the decision and wrote "Satyameva Jayate".

A three-judge bench of Justices B R Gavai, P S Narasimha and Sanjay Kumar said there is no doubt that the utterances were not in good taste and that a person in public life is expected to exercise caution while making public speeches. "No reason has been given by the trial judge for imposing maximum sentence, the order of conviction needs to be stayed pending final adjudication," the bench said.

The top court was hearing a plea by Gandhi challenging the Gujarat High Court verdict which dismissed his plea seeking a stay on his conviction in a defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark. Former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi had filed a criminal defamation case in 2019 against Gandhi over his "How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?" remark made during an election rally in Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019