Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arrived at a magistrate’s court in Gujarat’s Surat on Thursday to record his statement in a criminal defamation suit filed by a BJP MLA over his comments on the “Modi surname”.
A week ago, the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Surat AN Dav had directed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to record his final statement in the case filed by the BJP MLA from Surat, Purnesh Modi.
In response to the court summons, Rahul Gandhi appeared before the magisterial court on Thursday in Surat to defend himself in a criminal defamation case filed over his casteist statement targeting the Modi community. In an election speech, Rahul Gandhi had attacked the entire Modi community by asking whether all thieves carried the same Modi surname, in an apparent attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Before his appearance in the court in the defamation case, Rahul Gandhi had taken to Twitter to post a cryptic message saying he did not fear fighting the defamation case. “The whole secret of existence is to have no fear,” he tweeted.
“The whole secret of existence is to have no fear.”
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 24, 2021
A case was filed against him in 2019 after he had mocked an entire community by asking, “Why do all thieves carry the same Modi surname?” during a Lok Sabha election rally in Karnataka in the run-up to the general elections. “Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi… how come they all have Modi as a common surname? How come all thieves have Modi as a common surname?” the Gandhi-scion had made the controversial remark at a campaign rally in Kolar, Karnataka.
Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Surat Purnesh Modi had filed a complaint against the Congress leader for defaming the entire Modi community.
Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi was booked under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code, which deal with criminal defamation. Rahul Gandhi has been facing several defamation cases at various courts across the country for his controversial remarks.