A day after a court in Surat convicted and sentenced Rahul Gandhi for two years in jail in a criminal defamation case, Pradip Modi, a Ranchi-based lawyer, on Friday demanded speedy trial in a similar case he had filed against the Congress leader for his comment at an election rally in the Jharkhand capital in 2019 where he allegedly said “all Modis are thieves” .
Pradip Modi belongs to the family that had donated land to the Congress where the party’s state headquarters stands today in upscale Upper Bazar area of Ranchi.
Addressing reporters along with BJP’s chief whip in Jharkhand, Biranchi Narayan, at the latter’s residence, Modi said Gandhi’s lawyers are unnecessarily delaying the case.
“They had filed a petition in high court seeking quashing of the case. However, the petition was rejected on July 2, 2022. After that, his lawyers filed a petition seeking exemption of personal appearance for Rahul Gandhi. The court is yet to decide on the petition,” he said.
Emphasising he was not affiliated to any political party, Modi said he was confident he has a foolproof case against Rahul Gandhi.
“Rahul Gandhi gave a statement against our clan at a rally on March 3, 2019. After I filed the case, Rahul Gandhi repeated the same speech in other parts of the country. I have provided all evidence and shown he was doing it deliberately,” he said.
The court in Surat had sentenced Gandhi to two years in jail in a defamation case filed by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi for his alleged remark, “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?”
