Court asks Rahul Gandhi to appear on May 20 in defamation suit filed by Sushil Modi

A court here Saturday directed Congress president Rahul Gandhi to appear in person next month in connection with a defamation suit filed against him by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Shashikant Roy passed the order taking cognizance of the allegations made by the deputy chief minister, who had taken exception to Gandhi's remark "all thieves have the surname Modi" at a political rally.

The Congress president had made the remarks in Kollar district of Karnataka seeking to underscore the alleged laxity of the Narendra Modi government in pursuing corruption cases against diamaintaire Nirav Modi and former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, both of whom have fled the country.

On Friday, the Bihar deputy CM appeared before the court alleging that since he shared the same surname, he felt humiliated and ridiculed by the Congress chief's remark and that it was tantamount to defamation.

Roy, while transferring the matter for further hearing to the court of Additional CJM Kumar Gunjan, directed Gandhi to appear in person on the next date of hearing on May 20.