Modi surname remark case: Rahul Gandhi to appear before Patna Court on April 12

Patna MP/MLA court has ordered Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to appear before the court on April 12 to record his statements in the 2019 criminal defamation case filed against him by Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi.

Gandhi’s statements will be recorded under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). The court has directed Rahul Gandhi’s lawyer to appear before it.

Sushil Modi levelled a criminal defamation case against Gandhi under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (Defamation) over his alleged remark “why all thieves share the Modi surname” made during a political campaign in Karol ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Gandhi, in his statement, referred to IPL founder Lalit Modi and fugitive Nirav Modi who fled the country after taking thousands of crores of rupees. Gandhi obtained bail in the case in the year 2019.

Several witnesses on behalf of Sushil Modi, including, the then road construction minister in Bihar Government Nitin Nabin, president of BJYM Bihar Manish Kumar, Senior Advocate Subodh Jha, Senior Advocate SD Sanjay, Advocate Ratnesh Kumar and Advocate Arjun Kumar appeared in the court and have recorded their statements.

Last week, The 52-year-old leader was convicted by the Surat court over his remarks and was subsequently disqualified from the Lok Sabha membership after a complaint was filed by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi.

Following disqualification, Rahul Gandhi was also asked to vacate his official residence which he had occupied since 2005.