Patna High Court orders interim stay on proceedings against Rahul Gandhi before Bihar court in defamation case

The Patna High Court on Monday stayed till May 15, the proceedings before a Bihar court against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case filed against him by Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) leader Sushil Kumar Modi..The interim stay Justice Sandeep Singh stayed the proceedings on a plea by Gandhi to quash the summons issued by a Patna court. "Till next date of hearing, further proceeding of the Court below in connection with Complaint Case No. 1551(C) of 2019 shall remain stayed," the Court observed.A Patna court had, on March 31, directed Gandhi to appear before it physically on April 12, so as to record his statement under Section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) in the defamation case.However, Gandhi did not appear on the given date. Therefore, on the request of Gandhi's counsel for more time, the Court had directed Gandhi to appear physically on April 25.Subsequently, Gandhi moved the Patna High Court..The case has its genesis in the election campaign during the 2019 general election when Gandhi in a rally in Karnataka's Kolar had said,"Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi. How come all the thieves have 'Modi' as a common surname?"Sushil Kumar Modi had subsequently filed a suit against Gandhi for his objectionable remarks. However, the Congress leader was granted bail in this defamation case on July 6, 2019.Gandhi has multiple proceedings pending against him for the same remark.In one such case filed by another BJP leader Purnesh Modi, a court in Surat had already convicted him and sentenced him to two years in prison as a consequence of which he was disqualified as Member of Parliament (MP).More than 10 other criminal defamation cases are pending against Gandhi in various courts across the country for various statements. Gandhi, however, has not filed any such case against anyone.Advocate Ansul represented Rahul Gandhi.Advocate General PK Shahi represented State.Senior Advocate SD Sanjay and Advocates Aalok Kumar, Priya Gupta and Sushmita Mishra represented opposite party..[Read Order]