Pasighat court summons Gandhi over Modi surname remark

PASIGHAT, May 16: The court of the chief judicial magistrate here in East Siang district on 8 May issued a summons to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, in response to a criminal defamation suit filed by advocate Omit Modi of Pasighat over Gandhi’s remark on the surname ‘Modi’.
“Why do all the thieves have the Modi surname?” Gandhi had wondered aloud during an election rally in Kolar, Karnataka, recently.
The counsel for the complainant submitted that “freedom of expression is not a wild horse; it is qualified with dignity and reputation of others. The said statement is not made in good faith but to malign the reputation of the persons having Modi as surname.”
The court here issued the summons for Gandhi’s appearance before the court on 24 July.