Rahul Gandhi appears before Surat court over 'Modi surname' remark

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday appeared before a Surat court in connection with a criminal defamation case filed against him for his alleged remarks against "Modi surnames" during 2019 Lok Sabha elections. A Surat BJP MLA had filed the case, claiming that Gandhi's remarks "defamed the Modi community" by calling their surnames "thieves".

Rahul Gandhi recorded his statement before Chief Judicial Magistrate A N Dave. The magisterial court had issued an order directing Gandhi to remain present before it on June 24 to record his final statement. Local sources said during the deposition, Gandhi responded to most of the questions by saying he didn't remember anything.

According to the plea filed by local BJP legislature Purnesh Modi, Gandhi reportedly uttered derogatory remarks in his public speeches in Karnataka during the Lok Sabha poll campaign in 2019, while referring to "Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi and Narendra Modi... how come they all have common surnames? How come all the thieves have Modi as surnames?"

Modi has said in his complaint that such remarks "hurt the sentiments of the entire Modi community" and therefore, he filed the defamation case against Gandhi.

Congress leaders said before leaving for Delhi, Rahul Gandhi met state Congress leaders, including president Amit Chavda, Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani, among others and had lunch at the circuit house.