Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi appeared before a magisterial court in Surat on Thursday to record his statement in connection with a defamation case filed against him by a Gujarat BJP lawmaker Purnesh Modi.
Mr. Gandhi, during his brief appearance, denied making any defamatory remarks or statements on any platform about people with “Modi” as their surname.
The Congress parliamentarian’s alleged remark was reportedly made at a political rally at Kolar in Karnataka in the run-up to the national elections in 2019. “How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname,” he is alleged to have said referring to fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi, former chief of IPL Lalit Modi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On Thursday, in response to the court’s question, Mr. Gandhi claimed he never made such a statement during his campaigning.
When the magistrate asked Mr. Gandhi if he had said Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave ₹30 crore to an industrialist, Mr. Gandhi said being a national leader, he constantly raised issues of corruption and unemployment in his addresses in the interest of the nation, and it was his right to do so.
To the remaining questions related to the evidence and statements of witnesses cited in the suit filed by the BJP legislator, Mr. Gandhi said “I don’t know” .
The court posted the case for hearing on July 12 after recording the statement.