Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is set to appear before an MP/MLA court in Patna on April 12 regarding a petition filed against him for his comment on the ‘Modi surname’. The petition was filed by the former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi in 2019.
Last month, Rahul Gandhi was convicted by a Gujarat court for his statements during the Congress’ election campaign in Kolar in 2019. A Gujarat municipal court sentenced him to two years in prison. This conviction came after MLA Purnesh Modi’s complaint, where he accused Rahul Gandhi of humiliating the entire Modi community with his remarks in Kolar.
The Gujarat case was filed by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi. In his complaint, Purnesh Modi alleged that Gandhi had said, “How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?”
The court convicted Rahul Gandhi under Section 504 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for “intentionally insulting with the intent to cause a disturbance of peace”. Subsequently, he was stripped of his Lok Sabha membership and was asked to vacate his government Bungalow. Gandhi has written a letter to the Lok Sabha secretariat’s deputy secretary, stating that he will abide by the notice’s details.
Unless his sentence is overturned by a higher court, the Congress leader will be ineligible to vote for the next eight years. Gandhi is scheduled to appear before the Gujarat District and Sessions Court on April 13. The court will hear his bail plea in the case. On May 3, he will again appear before the court, which will decide if the charges against him are maintainable.
Sushil Modi, who is now a Rajya Sabha MP, claimed that Rahul Gandhi’s remarks were abuse to the backward classes and that they will take “revenge” on the Congress in the upcoming polls. Despite the disqualification, Rahul Gandhi remains defiant and said in a press conference that his tapasya is to work for the people, and he doesn’t care even if he is permanently disqualified or put in jail.