Rahul Gandhi Convicted in Defamation Case over Modi Surname Remarks

Surat: A court in Gujarat’s Surat, on Thursday, convicted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a 2019 criminal defamation case filed against him over his “Modi surname” remarks. The court is to announce the punishment.

According to sources, this defamation case was filed against Rahul Gandhi for his alleged “how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?” remark. He made this statement while addressing a rally at Kolar in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi had lodged the complaint against Rahul Gandhi.

In his complaint, Purnesh Modi alleged that Rahul Gandhi defamed the entire Modi community with his remark.

Meanwhile, Gandhi’s lawyer has argued that the court proceedings were “flawed” from the beginning as the procedure laid down under section 202 of the CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure) was not followed.