Modi surname remark: Rahul Gandhi appears before Surat court on defamation case

Surat, June 24: Wayanad Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Thursday appeared before a magistrate's court in Surat to record his statement in a criminal defamation suit filed by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi.

The Congress leader appeared before the Chief judicial magistrate court of AN Dave to recording his statement in the defamation suit filed over his "Modi surname remark".

The case pertains to his remarks at a Lok Sabha election rally at Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019.

During the rally, Rahul had said, "Why all the thieves have Modi in their names whether be it Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, and Narendra Modi?"

In a complaint lodged on April 16, Surat West MLA Purnesh Modi allegedly said that Rahul Gandhi had defamed the entire Modi community with his remarks.

Rahul Gandhi's lawyer Kirit Panwala has said that the statements of all the six witnesses in this case had been examined and arguments were concluded on the evidence put forward before the court. Now the next step of the court is to know what Rahul Gandhi wanted to say on the evidence.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had appeared before the Surat district court on October 11, 2019 in connection with the case and had pleaded not guilty to the charges levelled against him.