Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi is said to appear before the sessions court in Ahmedabad on Friday in connection with the two criminal defamation cases against him, one of them being filed for calling the Union Home Minister Amit Shah a 'murder accused' in an election rally in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. The other case had been filed by Ahmadabad District Cooperative (ADC) Bank and it's chairman Ajay Patel against Gandhi for alleging that ADC Bank was involved in swapping demonetised currency worth 750 crores within five days of the demonetisation announcement in 2016.

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'Gandhi's jibe was defamatory'

The defamation case for calling Shah a murder accused was filed by BJP Corporator Krishnavadan Brahmbhatt. "Gandhi's jibe was defamatory as Shah was acquitted in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh fake encounter case in 2015," said Brahmbhatt. Gandhi would reach the court premises around 2.30 pm on Friday, said the Gujarat unit of Congress in a press release. The hearing on the case will start at 3 pm.

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'Howcome all thieves have Modi as a common surname'

Gandhi attended another court hearing on Thursday in Surat and pleaded not guilty in connection in another criminal defamation case filed against him for generalising people who have Modi as a surname are thieves. The case against Gandhi was filed by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi from Surat West.

At a campaign rally at Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, Gandhi had quipped, “Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi... How come they all have Modi as a common surname? How come all thieves have Modi as a common surname?” At the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate B.H. Kapadia, Gandhi said that he had not said anything wrong when asked whether he admitted to the charge. The court scheduled a further hearing for December 10. After his statement was recorded, his lawyers moved an application for his permanent exemption from personal appearance. When Purnesh Modi’s lawyers objected, the court said that it would decide on the petition on December 10 while Gandhi need not be present then. Gandhi on Wednesday took to Twitter to announce his visit to Surat for the hearing of the case.

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