Modi Surname Remark: Patna Court Directs Rahul Gandhi To Appear In Court In Defamation Case Filed By RS MP Sushil Modi

An MP/MLA Court in Bihar's Patna district has directed Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi to appear before it on April 12 to record his statements under section 313 CrPC in the Defamation case filed against him by Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi.

MP Modi filed a criminal complaint (through Senior Advocate and former Add. Solicitor General of India SD Sanjay) against Gandhi in 2019 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 in April 2019. It is his case that it was a derogatory remark targetting people having the 'Modi' surname.

Gandhi obtained bail in the case in the year 2019.

#ModiSurnameRemark Case | Patna Court directs Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) to appear before the court on April 12 to record his statements in the #Defamation case filed against him by Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi (@SushilModi). pic.twitter.com/eSTtGYIYVF

— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) April 1, 2023

It may be noted that on March 23, a court in Surat in Gujarat convicted Gandhi in a similar defamation case filed against him over this very statement, following which, he was disqualified as an MP of the Lok Sabha.

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

Now, Gandhi himself has been directed to appear in person before the Court to record his statements.