New Delhi: The Supreme Court today, July 21, issued notice on a petition filed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi seeking the suspension of his conviction in a 2019 criminal defamation case – which has led to his suspension from parliament.On March 23, a Surat court had convicted Gandhi in a criminal defamation case based on a complaint filed by Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi, and sentenced him to two years of imprisonment.Modi’s complaint had been filed after a 2019 pre-election campaign speech by Gandhi at Kolar in Karnataka. In it, Gandhi had said: “I have a question. Why do all these thieves have Modi in their names, whether it is Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi or Narendra Modi? We don’t know how many more such Modis will come out.”Purnesh Modi had alleged this was defamatory to people with the ‘Modi’ last name.While the Surat court had suspended Gandhi’s two-year sentence and granted bail, the Gujarat high court had, on July 7, refused to stay Gandhi’s conviction and the two-year sentence given to him. A stay would have meant Gandhi’s reinstatement to parliament ahead of the Monsoon Session.A bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra today heard Gandhi’s plea.LiveLaw has reported that Justice Gavai sought to clarify that his father – former governor of three states and former MP of both houses, R.S. Gavai – had been associated with the Congress. Justice Gavai also added that his brother, Rajendra Gavai, is still associated with the party.The judge asked if there was objection to him hearing the matter.Both sides, represented by senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Mahesh Jethmalani, said they had none.The apex court said that the next hearing date would be August 4.Singhvi, for Rahul Gandhi, requested an earlier hearing date, considering that the Monsoon Session of the parliament would end on August 11 and the apex court’s order could impact Gandhi’s ability to attend the lower house.Singhvi highlighted that Gandhi has lost over a hundred days as an MP, including an entire session and part of the current session. Gandhi represents the Wayanad constituency in Kerala, where by-elections to fill his spot could be notified soon.However, Jethmalani sought 10 days to file a reply. When Justice Gavai cited the fact that the high court’s order had been over 100 pages and asked, “What is the need for reply in such a matter?”, Jethmalani said he wanted to put on record “certain propositions of law,” according to LiveLaw.“Peculiar thing we are seeing from Gujarat HC,” Justice Gavai additionally said, on the Gujarat HC’s order.Justice Hemant Prachchhak, who led the high court bench, had said that the case against Gandhi affects “a large section of the society.”“At least 10 criminal cases [are] pending against him. Even after the present case, some more cases filed against him. One such is filed by grandson of Veer Savarkar. In anyway, conviction would not result in any injustice. The conviction is just and proper. There is no need to interfere with the said order,” he had said.