Modi surname: Relief for Rahul as Patna HC stays order till May 15

The Patna High Court on Monday granted relief to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi staying the order of a lower court till 15 May in the 'Modi surname' case.

The bench of Justice Sandeep Singh stayed the order of the lower court, which asked Rahul Gandhi to appear on 12 April and present his case.

"We had filed a quashing petition. When a matter is already under trial in Surat court then there cannot be another trial in a different court in the same matter, this is illegal. The next hearing is on May 15 & all lower court proceedings have been stayed till then. The court accepted his plea and gave him relief. Now he will not have to appear in the lower court in Patna", Advocate Virendra Rathore, Rahul Gandhi's counsel, told news agency ANI.

Recently, Sushil Kumar Modi expressed hope that Rahul Gandhi will get "adequate punishment" by a court here which has "summoned" the latter next month in connection with a case lodged by the former.

In a video statement, Sushil Modi "Gandhi has been summoned for recording of statement under Section 317 CrPC. I am confident that like the court in Surat, the court here will hold him guilty and award adequate punishment (adequate punishment)".

Modi added "Gandhi and his party believe in dynasty politics and cannot bear the sight of an OBC, Narendra Modi, in the Prime Minister's chair. They, therefore, routinely engage in slander. Only the judiciary can effectively check this tendency".

Sushil Modi had filed a petition before the Special court against objectionable statement by Rahul Gandhi, where he said "How come all the thieves have Modi as a common surname."

Sushil Modi claimed that Rahul abused the backward classes by making objectionable comments.

On March 23, Rahul Gandhi was sentenced to two years in jail by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his "why do all thieves have the Modi surname" remark which he made during an election campaign rally in Karnataka's Kolar district.

with PTI inputs