PATNA: The Patna High Court on Monday granted relief to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the ‘Modi surname’ case by ordering a stay on the lower court order.
Earlier, Patna’s lower court had asked the Congress leader to appear in court and present his case in connection with a petition filed against him by former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi in 2019 for Gandhi’s alleged objectionable remarks on ‘Modi surname’.
This is another case in connection with the same remark that Rahul Gandhi made in 2019 during the election campaign for the Lok Sabha elections.
Sushil Modi’s counsel S D Sanjay said that Rahul Gandhi filed a petition in the High Court against the order of the lower court of Patna. “The lower court of Patna had asked Rahul Gandhi to appear in court on April 12 and present his case. Against that order of the lower court, Rahul Gandhi filed a petition in High Court,” he said. “The court has asked me to keep my argument on this matter”, added advocate Sanjay.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s counsel Virendra Rathore said that they have filed a quashing petition, alleging that when a matter is already under trial in a Surat court, then there cannot be another trial in a different court in the same case. “We had filed a quashing petition. When a matter is already under trial in a Surat court, then there cannot be another trial in a different court in the same matter, this is illegal”, he said.
“The next hearing is on May 16 and all lower court proceedings have been stayed till then. The court accepted Rahul Gandhi’s plea and gave him relief. Now, he will not have to appear in the lower court in Patna”, said Rathore.
Meanwhile, on April 20, the Surat court dismissed the application filed by Rahul Gandhi in which the Congress leader had sought a stay on his conviction in the 2019 criminal defamation case on the ‘Modi surname’ remark. The former Wayanad MP will now have to appeal in Gujarat High Court or Supreme Court against the Surat court’s order. On April 3, the Surat Sessions Court granted bail to the Congress leader, who had filed an appeal following his conviction in the case.
Rahul Gandhi was a Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad, but was disqualified after a lower court in Surat sentenced him to two years in jail on March 23 under Sections 499 and 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in a case filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Purnesh Modi. The case pertained to a remark Rahul Gandhi made using the surname ‘Modi’ while addressing a campaign event ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. (ANI)