Ranchi: The Jharkhand High Court on Friday deferred the hearing on the petition seeking action against Rahul Gandhi for calling PM Modi a 'thief' to April 26. After hearing the arguments from both sides over the matter, the court has directed all the parties to present their answers. The matter was taken up for hearing after a Pradeep Modi from Ranchi had filed a complaint petition against the same in Ranchi Civil Court, which was in turn challenged by Rahul Gandhi in the Jharkhand High Court.
During the hearing, the opposition claimed that the allegations made against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi are wrong and should therefore be quashed. The High Court bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi heard the matter.
Back in April 2019, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue of corruption and asked how all "thieves" have 'Modi' as the common surname by referring to the fugitive businessman Nirav Modi and former IPL chairman Lalit Modi. Quoting the statement as defamatory, Pradeep Modi had filed a complaint petition in the court, wherein he also made a defamation claim of 20 crores for the alleged statements by Gandhi.
After receiving the petition, the Ranchi Civil Court had issued a summons and ordered Rahul Gandhi to appear before the court himself or present his answer through an advocate. The summons issued by the Ranchi Civil Court was challenged by Rahul Gandhi in the Jharkhand High Court, wherein he denied the allegations and demanded the petition be quashed. The next hearing in the matter was scheduled for April 26 in today's hearing.
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