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Updated: May 03, 2019 03:06 IST

A court in Surat Thursday issued summons to Rahul Gandhi in response to a criminal defamation suit filed by a Gujarat MLA over the Congress president’s “how come all thieves have Modi as common surname” remark.

Chief judicial magistrate of Surat, B H Kapadia, issued summons to Gandhi, directing him to be present before the court on June 7.

The complaint against Gandhi was filed by BJP legislator Purnesh Modi on April 16 under IPC sections 499 and 500 that deal with defamation.

In his complaint, the MLA from Surat-West seat claimed the Congress president was defaming the entire Modi community by saying all “Modis are thieves”.

He was referring to an election rally at Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, where Gandhi asked, “Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi...how come they all have Modi as common surname. How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?” Talking to reporters after filing his defamation suit last month, Purnesh Modi had claimed that Gandhi’s remark has defamed the entire Modi community.

“There are a large number of people with Modi surname. Does it mean all members of the Modi community are thieves? He has defamed the community and also me as I carry the surname. This is why we have moved a complaint (against Gandhi) in a Surat court,” the MLA had said.