Patna court asks Rahul Gandhi to appear on April 12. Here's why

In 2019, the then Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi had filed a petition for Rahul Gandhi's alleged objectionable remarks on 'Modi surname'.

Updated on: Mar 30, 2023, 18:12:37 IST

By HT News Desk | Written by Aryan Prakash

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An MP/MLA court in Patna has asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to appear in court on April 12 in connection with a petition filed against him over his ‘Modi surname’ remark.

In 2019, the then Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi had filed a petition before the Special Judge of MP MLA Court for Rahul Gandhi's alleged objectionable remarks on 'Modi surname'. The Congress leader was granted bail in this defamation case on July 6, 2019.

Gandhi has already been convicted by a Surat court over his remarks and subsequently disqualified as a Lok Sabha MP from Kerala's Wayanad. The 52-year-old leader was convicted last week in a case pertaining to a complaint by Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Purnesh Modi.

In his complaint, the BJP lawmaker had alleged that Gandhi while addressing a poll rally in 2019, purportedly said, "How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname"?

Sushil Modi, now a Rajya Sabha MP, had said that Rahul Gandhi abused backward classes. "Gandhi with his remarks "abused" the backward classes, and they will take "revenge" on the Congress for the statement in the upcoming polls", he said.

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However, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress remain defiant over the disqualification. "I don't care even if I am permanently disqualified because my tapasya is to work for the people. Disqualify me for life, put me in jail," Gandhi said in a presser last Saturday.

After disqualification, he was also asked to vacate his official residence which he had occupied since 2005. On Tuesday, Gandhi in a letter to the Lok Sabha secretariat's deputy secretary said he will abide by the details of the notice.

Former Congress MP Rahul Gandhi at Parliament House complex in New Delhi, (Sanjeev Verma/HT)

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