Modi surname case:

face. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s petition in the ‘Modi surname’ case will be heard in Surat’s sessions court on Thursday. The Surat Metropolitan Court on March 23 sentenced Rahul Gandhi to two years in jail after holding him guilty of defamation over his ‘Why are all thieves surnamed Modi?’ remark. Rahul was disqualified from the Lok Sabha membership on 24 March. He filed an appeal against his conviction in the sessions court on April 3.

The court of Additional Sessions Judge RP Mogera had on April 3 granted bail to Rahul Gandhi and adjourned till April 13 the hearing on his plea seeking stay of conviction. Along with Purnesh Modi, the court had also issued a notice to the Gujarat government.

In the same hearing on Wednesday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Purnesh Modi opposed Rahul Gandhi’s plea to stay the conviction in the criminal defamation case, saying the Congress leader was a “repeated offence”. And he has a habit of making derogatory statements.

Purnesh Modi, the complainant in the case, said that the manner in which Rahul Gandhi appeared to file an appeal against the magistrate’s order showed his “arrogance and an immature act to pressurize the court”. Purnesh Modi was referring to Congress’ show of strength outside the court.

MLA Purnesh Modi on Tuesday filed his affidavit in a court here in response to Rahul Gandhi’s plea seeking stay on his conviction in a defamation case over his ‘Modi surname’ remark. He also accused Rahul Gandhi of making “unwarranted and derogatory remarks” against the court through his allies and Congress leaders.

Purnesh Modi said the accused are “repeated offenders” and are facing charges elsewhere for their defamatory statements and the High Court warned them after apologizing in one case. In his affidavit, the BJP leader cited 11 criminal defamation cases that Rahul Gandhi is facing or has faced.