Sushil Modi appears before court in connection with defamation suit against Rahul Gandhi

Appearing before a court here on Friday in pursuance of his defamation suit against Rahul Gandhi, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said his image has been tarnished by the Congress chief's "why all thieves have Modi in their name" remark.

The senior BJP leader requested the court to take cognisance of the comment under sections 499 and 500 of the IPC which relate to defamation, and issue summons to the Congress president and put him on trial.

He contended before the court that not only he but millions of others who shared the same surname were facing ridicule on account of the "rash" remark of the Congress president, Modi told PTI.

"I appeared before the chief judicial magistrate as directed by the court in pursuance of my defamation suit filed last week. I submitted that Rahul Gandhi, at a rally held in Kollar district of Karnataka, had remarked that all thieves had the surname Modi.

"The excerpt was telecast on news channels and reports were also published in newspapers. This made me feel humiliated," Modi said.

The Congress president has, at a number of his rallies, attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over corruption and asked how all "thieves" have 'Modi' as the common surname, referring to fugitive businessman Nirav Modi and former IPL chairman Lalit Modi.

Court sources said Chief Judicial Magistrate Kumar Gunjan has posted the matter for further hearing next month.