Defamation Case: Rahul Gandhi Tells SC That Purnesh Modi’s Original Surname Is Not Modi

GG News Bureau

New Delhi, 4th Aug. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi told the Supreme Court on Friday that former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi, who filed a defamation case against him, does not have the surname Modi and is a member of the Modh Vanika Samaj.

Senior counsel Abhishek Singhvi, representing for Gandhi, informed a three-judge panel of Justices B R Gavai, P S Narasimha, and Sanjay Kumar that his client is not a hardened criminal and that despite multiple complaints filed against him by BJP activists, there is no conviction in any case.

The top court is hearing a plea by Gandhi challenging the Gujarat High Court verdict which dismissed his plea seeking a stay on his conviction in a defamation case over his “Modi surname” remark.

Purnesh Modi filed a criminal defamation case against Gandhi in 2019 when he said, “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?” during an electoral rally in Kolar, Karnataka, on April 13, 2019.