Munmun Kaur
Published On:- February 27, 2022 at 10:48 IST
The Surat Court will deliver its verdict on March 16 on a Defamation Case filed against Rahul Gandhi. The Defamation Suit was filed by a Gujarat-based Bhartiya Janta Party MLA Purnesh Modi in 2019 after Rahul Gandhi made controversial comments on the ‘Modi’ surname.
Apparently, in an election rally on April 13, 2019, in Kolar, Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi remarked, “Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi... How come they all have Modi as their Common Surname? How come all the Thieves have Modi as their Common Surname?”
The Defamation Suit was filed by Purnesh Modi under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code( IPC). The BJP MLA in his Complaint alleged that Rahul Gandhi through his remarks defamed the entire Modi community by saying, “How come all the thieves have Modi as the Common Surname?”
In October 2021, when Rahul Gandhi appeared before the Court on the Court’s directions to record his statements, he had replied “I don’t know” to most of the questions asked by the Court based on the testimonies of Two Witnesses- then Electoral Officer of Kolar in Karnataka where the leader made the speech and a Videographer appointed by the Election Commission of India to shoot that rally as per the normal Campaign Protocol.
In his first appearance before the Court in October 2019, Rahul Gandhi pleaded “Not Guilty”.