Jharkhand HC extends relief of no coercive action against Rahul Gandhi in defamation case

On Wednesday, the Jharkhand High Court extended the interim relief of no coercive action against former Congress president Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case. This was in connection with Gandhi's remark at a campaign rally in Kolar, Karnataka on April 13, 2019, where he reportedly said, "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"? Subsequently, an advocate named Pradip Modi filed a complaint in a Ranchi court over this objectionable comment and sought damages worth Rs.20 crore. 

While the court took cognizance of the case and asked the Wayanad MP to appear before it, the latter moved the HC seeking relief. On February 27, 2020, the High Court directed that no coercive action should be taken against Gandhi until further orders. A single-judge bench comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi heard this criminal miscellaneous petition via video conferencing a day earlier. 

The order read, "Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that this case has been listed today at the instance of the informant. He further submits that earlier this matter was argued by Mr. Kaushik Sarkhel, who now becomes a Law Officer. He also submits that this matter may kindly be taken up on any other day so that he will engage another counsel". After Pradip Modi submitted that he had no objections to giving Rahul Gandhi more time to engage a new lawyer, the court adjourned the matter to December 7. 

Defamation case in Surat

Earlier in June, Rahul Gandhi had appeared before the Magistrate's Court in Surat, Gujarat to record his final statement in a criminal defamation case. This was also pertaining to his disparaging comment regarding the 'Modi' surname. Earlier, he had appeared before the Surat District Court on October 11, 2019, and pleaded not guilty to the charge levelled against him.

Purnesh Modi, the BJP MLA from Surat West accused him of "defaming" the entire Modi community and filed a complaint against him under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code. During the hearing, the ex-Congress chief denied having made any defamatory remarks on people with the 'Modi' surname. Subsequently, Chief Judicial Magistrate AN Dave adjourned the hearing.