Rahul Gandhi issued summonses by two Gujarat courts in defamation cases
Ahmedabad, Jul 9: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was issued summonses by two Gujarat courts on Tuesday in criminal defamation complaints filed by BJP leaders for allegedly calling Union Minister Amit Shah a "murder accused" and saying that "all thieves have Modi as surname".
Chief Judicial Magistrate B H Kapadia in Surat asked Gandhi to appear on July 16, while an Ahmedabad court ordered the Congress leader to appear on August 9.
In both the cases, the courts issued summonses holding that on the face of it there was a case of criminal defamation against Gandhi under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code.
Rahul Gandhi is facing several cases of defamation. Last week, he appeared in courts in Mumbai and Patna and was granted bail. He had alleged that the cases were filed by his political opponents to "harass and intimidate" him.
The Surat court was on Tuesday hearing a complaint of BJP legislator Purnesh Modi who alleged that the Congress leader had defamed the entire Modi community with his remark that "how come all thieves have Modi as common surname" made during the Lok Sabha campaign.
On May 2, the court had ordered that summons be issued to Gandhi through the Speaker of Lok Sabha as he was an MP. But since there was no clarity over who would be the Speaker post-election, no summons was issued, said Purnesh Modi's lawyer Hasmukh Lalwala.
He had filed an application seeking that the court issue a summons which could be directly served on Gandhi, which was accepted by the court Tuesday, the lawyer said.
Purnesh Modi is the MLA from Surat-West.
At a campaign rally at Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, Gandhi had reportedly said, "Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi.... how come they all have Modi as common surname? How come all thieves have Modi as common surname?"
In Ahmedabad, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate D S Dabhi re-issued summons to Gandhi after the one issued on May 1 was not served upon Gandhi by the Lok Sabha Speaker, said advocate Prakash Patel, lawyer of complainant Krishna Vandan Brahmbhatt.
Brahmbhatt, a local BJP corporator, alleged in his criminal defamation complaint that at an election rally in Jabalpur on April 23, Gandhi said "murder-accused BJP chief Amit Shah, wah, kya shaan hai (how glorious)!".
Brahmbhatt contended that this was slanderous as Shah was acquitted by a CBI court in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh fake encounter case in 2015, and the higher courts did not entertain appeals against the acquittal.
Earlier, another magistrate's court here had issued a summons to Gandhi and Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala in a criminal defamation suit filed by the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank and its chairman.
Amit Shah is a director of the bank. The matter will be heard on July 12 when Gandhi is likely to appear.
The complaint alleged that the Congress leaders falsely claimed that the bank was involved in a scam where Rs 750 crore in scrapped notes were exchanged with valid currency within five days of demonetisation in 2016.
In Mumbai, an RSS worker has dragged him to court for allegedly saying that the ideology of the RSS and BJP was responsible for assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. He is facing a similar case in Bhiwandi in neighbouring Thane district.
In Patna, he has been sued by Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi over his 'thieves' remark.
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Kharge expresses regret over 'illiterate' remark, says he has highest of respect for Gujaratis
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New Delhi (PTI): Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday expressed regret over his controversial statement calling the people of Gujarat "illiterate", and said he has always had and will continue to have the highest of respect for the people of the state.
In a post on X, the Congress president said, "Some remarks of mine in a recent election speech in Kerala are being deliberately misinterpreted. Even so, I express my sincere regret.
"It was never my intention to hurt the sentiments of the people of Gujarat for whom I have always had and will continue to have the highest of respect."
Kharge on Sunday had sparked a row during his Assembly poll campaign in Kerala, calling the people of Gujarat "illiterate" and claiming they were being "fooled" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
At the same time, Kharge said neither Modi nor Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan could fool the people of Kerala, describing them as "very clever and educated".
"Don’t misguide the people of Kerala. They are very clever and educated. Modiji, Vijayan, you both can fool people who are illiterate in Gujarat or other places, but you cannot fool the people of Kerala," the Congress chief had said.
He made the remark while alleging that both Modi and Vijayan were following the same path, with no difference between them except the parties they lead.
The BJP on Tuesday had demanded an apology from Kharge for his remarks, saying that the comment was "shameless, demeaning and utterly despicable."
Addressing a press conference here, senior BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad asked Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to clarify whether they agreed with Kharge's statement.
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