PATNA: A Bihar special court on Thursday summoned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to record his statement on April 12 in a criminal defamation case filed against him by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushil Kumar Modi for a remark he made ahead of the 2019 national polls about the Modi surname.
Additional chief judicial magistrate Adi Dev issued the order under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure that empowers the court to summon the accused to record their statement, said SD Sanjay, who is appearing for former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi.
The court has already recorded statements of Sushil Modi, former minister-cum-Bankipur MLA Nitin Navin, Digha MLA Sanjiv Chaurasia and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha leader Manish Kumar as witnesses.
The case was filed against Rahul Gandhi by Sushil Modi, accusing Gandhi of defaming the Modi community at a rally in Karnataka’s Kolar in the runup to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. “How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?” Gandhi was quoted to have said.
Sushil Modi’s counsel SD Sanjay on Thursday while talking with HT, confirmed that the court has issued summon against Rahul to record his statement under section 313 of CrPC. He told HT that Rahul Gandhi was granted bail on July 6, 2019.
{{/usCountry}}Sushil Modi’s counsel SD Sanjay on Thursday while talking with HT, confirmed that the court has issued summon against Rahul to record his statement under section 313 of CrPC. He told HT that Rahul Gandhi was granted bail on July 6, 2019.
{{/usCountry}}On March 23, Gandhi was convicted by a Surat court in a defamation case filed by former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi over the same remark. The following day, he was disqualified by the Lok Sabha secretariat from holding membership of the House.
Sanjay explained the status of the case at the Patna court. “After the process to record the statements of the witness side was completed, the prosecution evidence has been closed. The court fixed the date on April 12 for the appearance of Rahul Gandhi for his statement,” he said.
There was no confirmation from the Bihar Congress or Rahul Gandhi’s legal team if he will be able to be in Patna on April 12 or if he will request the court for another date.