Surat court to deliver verdict in defamation case against Rahul Gandhi on March 16

A Surat court will deliver its verdict on a criminal defamation case filed against Rahul Gandhi over his 'Modi surname remark' on March 16.

A Surat court will on March 16 deliver its verdict in a defamation case filed against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The defamation suit was filed in 2019 by a Gujarat BJP MLA over Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on the ‘Modi surname’.

At an election rally held at Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019, Rahul Gandhi had reportedly asked, "Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi... how come they all have Modi as their common surname? How come all the thieves have Modi as their common surname?"

Following this, BJP MLA Purnesh Modi filed a complaint against Rahul Gandhi under IPC sections 499 and 500 that deal with defamation.

In his complaint, the BJP MLA had alleged that Rahul Gandhi had defamed the entire Modi community through his remarks.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had appeared before the court in October 2019 and had pleaded not guilty to his comments.

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