One of India’s top lawyers, C. Aryama Sundaram, has answered some critical questions on the 2019 defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

In a 26-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Sundaram spoke about whether one can collectively defame an entire class of people who bear the same surname.

The interview – which was recorded before he had seen the judgment, delivered by a district court in Gujarat – aims to explain the issues that arise out of Gandhi’s conviction.

Here are the key questions which Thapar asked Sundaram during the interview:

1) Whilst I know you can defame individuals and specific institutions, can you generically and collectively defame an entire class of people who bear the same surname?

2) Rahul Gandhi’s precise words were “how come all thieves have the common surname 'Modi'?” That means all thieves are Modi but not all Modis are thieves. So can a "non-thief" Modi claim to be defamed by this statement?

3) Even if a "non-thief" Modi claims he is being defamed by Gandhi’s generic statement, does he not have to provide evidence and proof of how he has been defamed? Simply asserting the claim cannot be enough.

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