Rahul Gandhi convicted by Surat court in 'Modi surname' remarks case

Rahul Gandhi convicted by Surat court in 'Modi surname' remarks case

PTI

Surat : A Gujarat court on Thursday held Congress leader Rahul Gandhi guilty in the 2019 criminal defamation case over the 'Modi surname' remarks.

Earlier, Gandhi reached Surat.

Senior state Congress leaders, including GPCC president Jagdish Thakor, legislature party leader Amit Chavda, senior leader Arjun Modhwadia, AICC in-charge of Gujarat Raghu Sharma, were at the Surat airport to receive Gandhi.

A huge number of party functionaries assembled at various spots in the city as a show of strength and support for Gandhi.

The case was filed against Gandhi for his alleged “how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname” remarks on a complaint lodged by BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi.

The Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad made the alleged remarks while addressing a rally at Kolar in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Varma had last week concluded hearing final arguments from both sides and set March 23 to pronounce its judgment in the four-year-old defamation case, Gandhi's lawyer Kirit Panwala had said.