A Gujarat court on Thursday rejected former Lok Sabha MP and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s appeal for stay on his conviction in the 2019 criminal defamation case on the ‘Modi surname’ remark.

Surat court’s dismissal of the plea means Rahul Gandhi cannot be reinstated as a Member of the Parliament.

On March 23, a Surat court had convicted the Congress leader and sentenced him to two years of imprisonment in a 2019 defamation case that had been filed against him over his alleged derogatory remarks on the “Modi surname”.

A day after his conviction, Gandhi was disqualified as Member of Lok Sabha.

Later on April 3, the former Lok Sabha MP filed an appeal to seek a stay on his conviction in the criminal defamation case.

In the build-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha general elections, Rahul Gandhi had allegedly remarked, “How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?” during a public rally at Kolar in Karnataka.

Based on it, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi had lodged a complaint against the Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad, Rahul Gandhi.