Mukesh Kumar Mishra, Patna
A special court in Bihar’s capital Patna Wednesday asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to appear before it on April 25 in a defamation suit filed over his purported remark on “Modi surname”.
The defamation case in the MP/MLA court in Patna, similar to one filed against Gandhi by a BJP MLA in a Surat court that eventually convicted and sentenced the Congress leader to two years in jail, was filed by BJP’s Rajya Sabha member and Bihar’s former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi.
On March 18, the MP/MLA court of chief judicial magistrate Aadi Dev in Patna had passed an order asking Gandhi to appear before it on April 12.
However, during hearing on Wednesday, the defence counsel sought another date, saying that the entire team was busy with the Surat case, in which Gandhi was sentenced to two years in prison and disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha last month.
To this, the judge asked Gandhi’s counsel to ensure his physical appearance before the court on the next date of hearing in the case on April 25.
Prosecution lawyer Priya Gupta told reporters that statements from the complainant’s statement has been recorded and all evidence submitted to the court and now only the statement of Gandhi is to be recorded.
Anshul, counsel for Rahul Gandhi, said the Congress leader could not appear before the court as he is due to appear in the Surat court the next day for hearing on his plea seeking a stay of his conviction and subsequent sentencing.
Sushil Modi had filed the case in the Patna court in April 2019, days after Gandhi allegedly said at a rally at Kolar in Karnataka, “Why do all thieves have the Modi surname.”
