Patna: The Patna High Court on Monday gave interim relief to former Congress MP Rahul Gandhi from the summons issued to him in the Modi surname case filed against him by BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi. The court has scheduled the next hearing in the case in mid May. Rahul had moved the petition before the Patna HC on Saturday Apr. 22 after which Justice Sandeep Kumar agreed to hear the plea today.
The Congress leader has sought to quash the summons issued to him by the MP/MLA Court in Patna over his “All Modis are thieves” remarks during an election speech in Karnataka back in 2019. The case was filed against Rahul by Bihar BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi. The MP/MLA court, which heard the matter on Apr. 12 had asked Rahul to be physically present on Apr. 25, that is today.
Also read: Patna court defers hearing in Modi surname remarks case against Rahul Gandhi till Apr 25
Giving interim relief from summons in the case, the Patna HC posted the matter to mid May. In his petition against Rahul, BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi alleged that the Congress leader, by his remarks, had “insulted” the Modi community by calling them thieves during the election rally in Karnataka. Modi said that Rahul had “abused” the OBC community by his remarks.
The BJP leader said that he hoped that the court will give “adequate punishment” to Rahul Gandhi for his remarks. The court has so far recorded the statements of five persons in this case, including Sushil Kumar Modi. All eyes were on today's hearing of the case by the Patna High Court. The courts' decision is seen as a big relief for Rahul Gandhi, who will not have to appear in the MLA-MP court in Patna on Apr. 25.
It can be recalled that a court in Surat on 23 Mar. this year convicted Rahul Gandhi in the case and sentenced him to two years in jail in the case. The very next day, Rahul was disqualified by as MP and later asked to vacate his accommodation.
