New Delhi: Congress leader and MP from Wayanad, Rahul Gandhi, has appeared in a court in Surat, Gujarat, in a defamation case against him for saying ‘why all thieves share the Modi surname’ during the Lok Sabha election campaign.
The case was filed by local BJP MLA Purnesh Modi under section 499 and 500.
Rahul Gandhi has pleaded not guilty in the case and said that he did not commit anything wrong when he said all thieves share the Modi surname.
The court deferred the case to 10 December for the next hearing. Gandhi’s lawyers also moved an application seeking a permanent exemption from personal appearance in the next hearings. The court will hear about the plea on 10 December and said that the Gandhi scion need not appear for the next hearing.
Rahul Gandhi during the election campaign said, “Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi…how come all have Modi as common surname? How come all thieves have Modi as common surname?”
Taking insult to this statement Purnesh Modi said that Rahul Gandhi had defamed the entire Modi community for his statement.
Rahul Gandhi was on a foreign tour to Cambodia while the Congress party was preparing for crucial assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra. Many in his party believed that he was on one of his disappearance acts before a crucial time for the party. However, the Congress is relieved that their leader has returned before the election heat is on.
