‘Modi surname’ remark: Rahul Gandhi appears before Gujarat court in defamation case

• Shubham
• 24 June, 2021

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By: Shubham Ghosh

Shubham Ghosh

FORMER Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday (24) appeared before a magisterial court in Surat in the western Indian state of Gujarat to record his final statement in a criminal defamation suit filed by a state legislator over his two-year-old remark on the Modi surname. He had asked in an election rally why “all the thieves have Modi as the common surname”.

Purnesh Modi, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA (member of the legislative assembly), had filed a complaint against Gandhi in April 2019 under sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code, both of which deal with defamation.

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In his defence, Gandhi said he didn’t mean to target any community and was just being sarcastic during the elections. He also said he didn’t remember much about the remark.

Gandhi’s lawyer Kirit Panwala told The Indian Express that statements of all six witnesses in the case had been examined and arguments were concluded on the basis of the evidence put forward before the court. He said the next step of the court is to know what Gandhi wanted to say on the evidence. The lawyer also added that they have not submitted an application before the court for Gandhi’s exemption from further statement procedures.

A week ago, Surat’s Chief Judicial Magistrate A N Dave asked the Congress leader to remain present in the court on June 24 to record his final statement in the case. In his complaint, Modi alleged that Gandhi defamed the entire Modi community with his remark while addressing a rally during the Lok Sabha election of 2019.

‘How come all thieves have Modi as common name?’
“But tell me one thing…Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi…how come they all have Modi as common name. How come all the thieves have Modi as the common name?” Gandhi had said.

The 51-year-old, who was the president of the Congress when he made the remark, had also appeared before the court in October 2019 and pleaded not guilty.

His remark was widely criticised, including by businessman and cricket administrator Lalit Modi and BJP leader and former deputy chief minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi.