Modi Surname Defamation Case: Jharkhand High Court Protects Rahul Gandhi From Coercive Action

The Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday granted relief to senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case related to the Modi surname remark he made before the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. Gandhi had earlier been directed by the Ranchi MP-MLA court to appear in person in the defamation case.

Justice S.K. Dwivedi said, "No coercive steps shall be taken against the petitioner, in connection with M.P./M.L.A. Case No. 17 of 2021 (arising out of Complaint Case No. 1993 of 2019), pending in the court of learned Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class, Ranchi till the next date of listing."

The court will hear the case next on August 16.

The defamation case filed by Advocate Pradeep Modi, a practitioner in Ranchi, pertains to Rahul Gandhi's remark on 'Modis' during an election rally ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Gandhi had said, “I have a question. Why do all of them — all of these thieves — have Modi Modi Modi in their names? Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi. And if we search a bit more, many more Modis will come out.”

Earlier in March this year, a Surat court in Gujarat convicted Gandhi in a criminal defamation case against his comments. The court sentenced Gandhi to two years of imprisonment, leading to his disqualification as a member of the Lok Sabha on March 24.

Case Title: Rahul Gandhi vs. The State Of Jharkhand W.P.(Cr.)/302/2023

Appearance:

For The Petitioner: Advocate- Deepankar, Piyush Chitresh, Pradeep Chandra, Gaurav Abhishekh, Sushant Kumar, Piyush Chitresh

For the Respondents: Mrinal Kanti Roy

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