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Modi surname case: Rahul Gandhi seeks more time for appearance, next hearing on July 4
The court of magistrate Anamika Kisku had on May 3 rejected the petition of Gandhi for exemption from personal appearance in the matter. The Congress leader has challenged the order in Jharkhand high court which is yet to hear the matter.
RANCHI: In an interim relief, a special court in Ranchi on Friday allowed the prayer of Rahul Gandhi seeking at least 15-day time for appearance before it in connection with an ongoing hearing in the ‘Modi surname case’.
The court of magistrate Anamika Kisku had on May 3 rejected the petition of Gandhi for exemption from personal appearance in the matter. The Congress leader has challenged the order in Jharkhand high court which is yet to hear the matter.
“Based on our petition in the high court we prayed for 15-day time. The court has posted the matter for next hearing on July 4,” said Deepankar Roy, counsel of Gandhi.
The development is related to an ongoing defamation case in Jharkhand capital, filed by an advocate Pradip Modi, for his ‘all Modis are thieves’ comment at an election rally in Ranchi in 2019. In a similar case, Gandhi was convicted by a Gujarat court in March and subsequently disqualified from the Lok Sabha.
The former Congress president had made the remark at a rally on March 3, 2019. Subsequently, Pradip Modi had filed the defamation case against Gandhi, who in turn had challenged the lower court summon in the high court.
The Jharkhand high court on July 2, 2022, had rejected his quashing petition. Subsequently, the lower court had issued fresh summons to Gandhi. A petition was filed by Gandhi’s lawyers seeking an exemption of personal appearance in the case. However, the special court on May 3 rejected the petition and issued fresh summons.
