Surat court's verdict in defamation case against Rahul over 'Modi' surname remark likely on Mar 23
Congress leader to remain present: lawyer
Surat, Mar 20: A court in Gujarat's Surat city is likely to pass an order on March 23 in a criminal defamation case against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi over his alleged "Modi surname" remark, his lawyer said on Monday.
The Congress leader will remain present in the court when the order will be passed, the lawyer Kirit Panwala told PTI.
The case was filed against Rahul Gandhi for his alleged "how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?" remark on a complaint lodged by BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi.
The complainant claimed that the controversial remark was made at a rally at Kolar in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections which defamed the entire Modi community.
The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, H H Varma, concluded hearing final arguments from both sides last Friday and set March 23 as the date to pronounce the judgment, lawyers said.
"The court concluded the hearing of the criminal defamation case and kept the matter for judgement on March 23. Rahul Gandhi will remain present in the court when it passes the order," Kirit Panwala said.
Rahul Gandhi had remained present in the court on three occasions during the hearing of the case. He last appeared in October 2021 to record his statement and pleaded not guilty.
The final arguments in the defamation case resumed in February 2023 after the Gujarat High Court vacated the interim stay it had imposed on proceedings in March 2022 on the complainant's plea demanding the personal appearance of Rahul Gandhi.
The complainant, Purnesh Modi, had served as a minister in the first term of the Bhupendra Patel government in Gujarat. He was re-elected from the Surat West assembly seat in December 2022 elections.
The lawyer for the complainant argued that CDs and a pen drive of Rahul Gandhi's speech prove that he had indeed made the remark at the rally and that his words defamed the Modi community.
Rahul Gandhi's lawyer argued that the proceeding was flawed from the beginning as the legal procedure under section 202 of the CrPC was not followed.
He also argued that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and not Purnesh Modi, should have been the complainant in the case as an aggrieved party because most of Rahul Gandhi's speech had targeted the prime minister.
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No unannounced load shedding in Kerala, outages due to overload, says Minister
Palakkad (PTI): Kerala Electricity Minister K Krishnankutty on Saturday said there was no unannounced load shedding in the state, attributing recent power interruptions to temporary overload caused by high consumption.
Clarifying concerns raised from various parts of the state, the minister said the disruptions are not deliberate but occur when demand peaks, particularly between 10 pm and 11 pm.
"It is not being done intentionally. Power consumption has risen sharply, and when there is excessive and indiscriminate usage, the system experiences overload, leading to natural supply interruptions," he told reporters here.
His remarks come amid complaints that several areas have been witnessing frequent power cuts, often lasting around 15 minutes and occurring multiple times during the night.
Krishnankutty said the state's power demand has crossed 6,195 MW, putting pressure on the supply system. He added that around 70 per cent of Kerala's electricity is procured from outside, and existing power banking arrangements have been exhausted.
"We have approached the Regulatory Commission seeking permission to purchase more power. However, this will come at a higher cost," he said.
The minister said the government is trying to avoid increasing electricity tariffs and urged consumers to exercise restraint in usage to help manage the situation.
Responding to opposition criticism over the ruling LDF's earlier claims of a decade without power cuts, he said the current situation is not unique to Kerala.
A power crisis is emerging across the country, he said, and sarcastically asked the Opposition to take note of the role of natural factors in this.
Krishnankutty expressed confidence that the situation would improve within two days, while cautioning that long-term energy security would depend on enhancing in-state power generation.
He also warned that future generations could face serious challenges if adequate electricity production capacity is not developed within Kerala.
