
A Patna Court on Saturday summoned Congress president Rahul Gandhi to appear before it on May 20, in connection with a defamation suit filed against him by Bihar deputy chief minister and BJP leader Sushil Modi.
The summon was issued to the Congress president in response to the allegations made by the deputy chief minister, who had taken exception to Mr Gandhi's remark "all thieves have the surname Modi" at a political rally.
The Congress president had made the remarks in Kollar district of Karnataka seeking to underscore the alleged laxity of the Narendra Modi government in pursuing corruption cases against diamantaire Nirav Modi and former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, both of whom have fled the country.
Addressing a rally in Maharashtra's Nanded on April 15, Rahul had again targetted 'Modi ' and said how come all "thieves" have Modi as the common surname.
"But tell me one thing...Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi...how come they all have Modi as a common name. How come all the thieves have Modi as the common name?" Gandhi had said.
The Bihar deputy chief minister on Friday appeared before the court alleging that since he shared the same surname, he felt humiliated and ridiculed by the Congress chief's remark and that it was tantamount to defamation.
Chief Judicial Magistrate Shashikant Roy, while transferring the matter for further hearing to the court of additional CJM Kumar Gunjan, directed Rahul Gandhi to appear in person on the next date of hearing on May 20.
(With inputs from agencies)