Mumbai: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi pleaded not guilty in the criminal defamation case filed against him, commenting “why all thieves share surname Modi, ” at magisterial court.
Rahul who appeared before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate B H Kapadia here and pleaded not guilty when asked by the court whether he accepts the charges, registered against him by BJP legislator from Surat-West, Purnesh Modi.
The court held that Gandhi not required to be present during the next hearing on that date. During the final hearing in July, the court exempted Gandhi from personal appearance for that hearing and set the next date of hearing as October 10.
In his complaint, the BJP MLA had alleged that the Rahul Gandhi had defamed the entire Modi community with his remarks, during the Lok Sabha election campaign this year.
While admitting the case, the court had held that a criminal defamation case was going on against the Lok Sabha member from Wayanad.
Earlier during a campaign rally, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had said that “Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi… how come they all have Modi as a common surname? How come all thieves have Modi as a common surname?”
Gujarat Congress President Amit Chavda held a meeting with local party leaders in view of Gandhi’s visit on Tuesday.
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and like us on Facebook for the latest updates and interesting stories.
