Modi surname case: Jharkhand HC exempts Rahul Gandhi from appearing personally
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had made the remark “all Modis are thieves” at a rally on March 3, 2019. Subsequently, a defamation case was filed against him by advocate Pradeep Modi at a Ranchi court.
The Jharkhand high court on Wednesday exempted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from personally appearing before a special Ranchi court that is hearing a defamation petition related to the ‘Modi surname’ case against the Waynad MP.
Passing the verdict on a petition filed by Gandhi, challenging the lower court order, justice SK Dwivedi granted relief to the former Congress president with certain conditions.
“The petition was filed before the honourable high court challenging the order passed by the magistrate which has been allowed and exemption from personal appearance granted. Few conditions have also been laid including that Rahul Gandhi shall file fresh affidavit undertaking that he will not dispute his identity and will not raise any objection if witnesses are examined in his absence and in presence of his lawyer,” said the Congress leader’s counsel, Deepankar Roy.
The court of magistrate Anamika Kisku had on May 3 rejected Gandhi’s petition for exemption from personal appearance in the matter, which was then challenged by the Congress leader in the high court.
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The development is related to an ongoing defamation case in the Jharkhand capital, Ranchi, filed by advocate Pradip Modi, for his ‘all Modis are thieves’ comment at an election rally in Ranchi in 2019. In a similar case, Gandhi was convicted by a Gujarat court in March and subsequently disqualified from the Lok Sabha. He was reinstated as a Lok Sabha member of parliament earlier this month during the just-concluded Monsoon Session.
Subsequently, Modi , the advocate, had filed the defamation case against Gandhi, who in turn had challenged the lower court summon in the high court.
The Jharkhand high court had rejected his petition to quash the order on July 2, 2022.
Subsequently, the lower court had issued fresh summons to Gandhi. A petition was filed by Gandhi’s lawyers seeking exemption of personal appearance in the case. However, the special court on May 3 rejected the petition and issued fresh summons, which was then challenged in HC.