Surat: Purnesh Modi, the BJP MLA from Surat West, submitted a reply today regarding the appeal for the stay of conviction of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a city court.

In March, the Surat court convicted Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case and sentenced him to two years of imprisonment. Gandhi’s lawyer Kirit Panwala then applied for an appeal against the judgment in the Surat Additional Session Court of Justice R P Mogera. On April 3, Gandhi filed an appeal for a stay of conviction. The court ordered Modi’s lawyer to file a reply by April 11, which was done on Tuesday.

Modi’s lawyer, Ketan Reshamwala, after submitting a copy of the reply on the appeal to the judge, said, “We have filed an affidavit in the court, along with objections to the stay of conviction application filed by Rahul Gandhi. The lawyer of Rahul Gandhi, Kirit Panwala, was also given a copy of the affidavit. This is a sub judice matter and we will put our argument in front of the court on April 13th.”

Reshamwala further said, “The court had fixed arguments in the first half of April 13. Both Purnesh Modi and Rahul Gandhi will not be present in the court.”

Purnesh Modi stated, “As a part of the court proceedings, today I remained present in Additional Session Judge Mogera’s court. I cannot reveal more, as it is a sub judice matter. We have full faith in the judicial system.” DeshGujarat