Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday appeared before a magistrate’s court in Surat to record his statement in connection with a criminal defamation case filed against him for his remark on the “Modi surname” during a speech in Karnataka in 2019.
This was his third appearance before the court in connection with the case filed by Surat BJP legislator and now Cabinet Minister Purnesh Modi.
On October 26, the court directed Mr. Gandhi to appear before it between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. to record his statement.
‘I don’t know’
On Friday, while recording his statement; Mr. Gandhi stated “I don’t know” to most of the questions asked by the court on the basis of recent testimonies of two witnesses -- then electoral officer of Kolar in Karnataka where the leader made the speech, and a videographer appointed by the Election Commission of India to shoot that rally as per the normal campaign protocol.
He said “I don't know” when Chief Judicial Magistrate A.N. Dave asked if he knew about the appointment of Arun Kumar as the official videographer to shoot the rally that he addressed.
To other queries posed by the court, his replies were in the negative.
Mr. Gandhi’s second appearance before the court was in June last and the previous one was in October 2019, when he pleaded not guilty.
In the midst of parliamentary polls in 2019, Mr. Purnesh Modi, in April, filed the case against Mr. Gandhi. He alleged that the latter, while addressing a poll rally on April 13, defamed the entire Modi community by saying “how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?”
Last month, Mr. Purnesh Modi was inducted as a Cabinet Minister in the new government led by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, holding crucial portfolios like Road and Building, Transport, Civil Aviation, and Tourism and Pilgrimage Development.
