The Patna excessive court docket on Monday stayed till May 16 proceedings in a particular court docket in Bihar in opposition to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case associated to his feedback concerning the Modi surname in 2019.

Gandhi was disqualified as a Member of Parliament (MP) after a court docket in Gujarat’s Surat final month held him responsible of prison defamation over the remarks and sentenced him to two-year imprisonment. Any elected consultant sentenced to 2 years or extra faces fast disqualification.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Sushil Modi filed a defamation case in opposition to Gandhi in Bihar, saying the remarks harm the emotions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s supporters.

The particular court docket in Patna earlier directed Gandhi to seem in particular person earlier than it on April 25 to report his assertion and prompted the Congress chief to maneuver the excessive court docket. A single choose excessive court docket bench of Justice Sandip Kumar stayed the proceedings whereas listening to Gandhi’s plea for quashing the case.

Sushil Modi’s lawyer S D Sanjay mentioned Gandhi’s counsel argued that when the Surat court docket pronounced the Congress chief responsible, one other court docket can not attempt him on the identical prices. “The court gave me time to file reply a reply till May 16,” mentioned Sanjay.

A periods court docket on Thursday final rejected Gandhi’s plea for a keep on his conviction by the trial court docket in Surat and dealt a blow to his hopes of reversing his disqualification sooner.

Gandhi was disqualified as MP from Kerala’s Wayanad on March 24 a day after he was convicted and sentenced.

The BJP intensified its assault on Gandhi following his conviction claiming that his remark that “why all thieves have Modi in their names”, truly disparaged Other Backward Classes, that are estimated to account for over 40% of India’s inhabitants.

Gandhi argued his feedback concerning the Modi surname throughout a speech in Karnataka weren’t defamatory and brought out of context.