Surat: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi may visit the city of Surat tomorrow on 24 June for court appearance in a case filed by local BJP MLA Purnesh Modi against him under IPC sections 499 and 500, over Rahul Gandhi’s poll season remark “against Modi community”.

According to Gujarat Congress chief Amit Chavda, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi will arrive in Surat at 10.00 am and leave the city at 12.30 pm after his appearance in court. Chavda said Rahul’s visit is not about politics but only about court case.

Rahul Gandhi had earlier appeared in this defamation case in October 2019 and pleaded not guilty for his all thieves share the Modi surname’ remark. During that hearing in the case, Rahul had told the Surat court that he did not say anything wrong when he said all thieves share the Modi surname.

The case

In his complaint, the BJP legislator from Surat-West had alleged the Congress leader had defamed the entire Modi community with his remark, made during the Lok Sabha campaign in 2019.

At a campaign rally at Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, Gandhi had said, “Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi… how come they all have Modi as common surname? How come all thieves have Modi as common surname?”

In his complaint, Purnesh Modi had said the Congress leader had defamed the entire Modi community with his statement.

DeshGujarat