Surat: A court in Surat will start hearing the final arguments of the respondent, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in a criminal defamation case filed against him over his alleged objectionable remarks on the “Modi” surname from March 7, a lawyer said on Wednesday.

According to Gandhi’s lawyer, Kirit Panwala, the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate H H Varma will commence the final arguments of the respondent after the petitioner in the case concluded his concluding statements on Tuesday.

The case was filed by former Gujarat minister and Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Purnesh Modi after Gandhi allegedly made defamatory remarks at an election rally in Kolar in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The complainant argued that Gandhi’s statements defamed the entire Modi community. The final arguments resumed on February 27, and the case is being heard under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 499 and 500 dealing with defamation.

As per the complaint, the statement made by Rahul was “how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?” DeshGujarat