ADC defamation case: Rahul Gandhi gets relief on Nehru’s death anniversary

 Congress president Rahul Gandhi, on Monday, moved an application before a metropolitan court seeking exemption from physically appearing before it in connection with the defamation suits filed by Ahmedabad District Cooperative (ADC) Bank and its chairman Ajay Patel. Notably, the court had issued summons to Gandhi and Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala on April 8 directing them to remain present before it on May 27.

In his application, Gandhi has submitted that May 27 is the fifty-fifth death anniversary of his great grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru and he will spend the day attending events at Shantivan, where Nehru was cremated. He also submitted that he also needs to attend the prayer meets to be organised at his home in Delhi for his great grandfather and sought an exemption from appearing before the court. The submissions were made by Gandhi’s counsel PS Champaneri.

Champaneri also submitted that the summons issued by the court to Surjewala is yet to be served and therefore, he was not present before the court. Following this, the court accepted the plea of Gandhi and adjourned the case for further hearing till July 12.

As per the case details, the bank and its chairman are demanding action against the Congress leaders for defaming them and projecting them as scamsters involved in a Rs 745.59 crore scam of converting demonetised currencies within five days of Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing the note ban on November 8, 2016. Notably, BJP president Amit Shah was one of the directors of the bank at the time of demonetisation.

 Patel has alleged that Rahul’s tweet saying #ShahZyadaKhaGaya was damaging to the bank’s reputation and many potential depositors refrained from depositing in the bank. He has also alleged that Rahul’s tweet and Surjewala’s press conference on the subject in June 2018 had ruined his and the bank’s reputation.

Notably, following the complaint, the metropolitan court conducted a preliminary probe in the matter to ascertain the credibility of the allegations and whether the court should move forward with the case, or not. After the probe, the court went ahead with issuing of summons against the Congress leaders.