Rahul Gandhi gets relief in ‘Modi surname’ case as Patna HC stays lower court's order

On April 22, Gandhi had approached the Patna High Court seeking the quashing of the summons issued by the lower court in the defamation case.

The Patna High Court on Monday granted relief to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by staying the lower court's order till May 15 in the ‘Modi surname’ defamation case. Earlier, Patna's lower court had asked the Congress leader to appear on April 12 and present his case in connection with a petition filed against him by former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi in 2019 for Gandhi's alleged objectionable remarks on 'Modi surname'.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi

On April 22, Gandhi had approached the Patna High Court seeking the quashing of the summons issued by the lower court in the defamation case filed against him by Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) leader Sushil Kumar Modi.

“We had filed a quashing petition. When a matter is already under trial in Surat court, then there cannot be another trial in a different court in the same matter…this is illegal. The next hearing is on May 15 and all lower court proceedings have been stayed till then,” Rahul Gandhi's counsel Advocate Anshul told ANI.

Meanwhile, Sushil Modi's counsel Advocate SD Sanjay said that the “court has asked him to keep the argument on the matter”.

Gandhi has already been convicted by a Surat court over his remarks and was subsequently disqualified as a Lok Sabha MP. He vacated his official Tughlaq Lane bungalow on Saturday as per the protocols. The bungalow was first allotted to him after he won from Amethi in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.

As the Congress leader vacated his bungalow and shifted to mother Sonia Gandhi's residence in Delhi, he said that he was paying the “price for speaking the truth”.