New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the conviction of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a 2019 defamation case over his Modi surname remark, restoring his status as an MP.

A three-judge bench of Justices B R Gavai, P S Narasimha and Sanjay Kumar said 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.

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Guwahati: The Indian National Congress has secured victory in 18 Assembly constituencies in Assam, according to the latest results.

Out of the 18 winning candidates, 17 are from the Muslim community. The only non-Muslim candidate among the winners is Dr. Joy Prakash Das, who won from the Nowboicha constituency.

The constituencies where Congress candidates emerged victorious include Parbatjhora, Gauripur, Dhubri, Birsing Jarua, Jaleshwar, Goalpara East, Srijangram, Chenga, Pakabetbari, Chamaria, Lahorighat, Rupahihat, Samaguri, Nowboicha, Sonai, Algapur-Katlicherra, Karimganj North, and Karimganj South.

Among the winners are MD Ashraful Islam Sheikh from Parbatjhora, Abdus Sobahan Ali Sarkar from Gauripur, Baby Begum from Dhubri, Wazed Ali Choudhury from Birsing Jarua, and Aftab Uddin Mollah from Jaleshwar.

Other winners include Abul Kalam Rasheed Alam from Goalpara East, MD. Nurul Islam from Srijangram, Abdur Rahim Ahmed from Chenga, Jakir Hussain Sikdar from Pakabetbari, Rekibuddin Ahmed from Chamaria, Dr Asif Mohammad Nazar from Lahorighat, Nurul Huda from Rupahihat, Tanzil Hussain from Samaguri, Aminul Haque Laskar from Sonai, Zubair Anam Mazumder from Algapur-Katlicherra, Jakaria Ahmed from Karimganj North, and Aminur Rashid Choudhury from Karimganj South.