Who is Purnesh Modi, whose complaint led to Rahul Gandhi's conviction in the defamation case?

Congress leader and Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi has been convicted in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Congress MP was today sentenced to two years in jail by the Surat district court, which granted him bail and suspended his sentence for 30 days to let him appeal the court verdict.

The case pertains to Rahul Gandhi's "Modi surname" remarks in 2019. Rahul Gandhi made the remarks at a rally in Karnataka's Kolar, ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election.


Rahul Gandhi has been convicted under sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The case was filed against Gandhi for his alleged "how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?" remarks on a complaint lodged by BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi.

In his complaint, BJP MLA Purnesh Modi alleged that Gandhi, while addressing the poll rally in 2019, defamed the entire Modi community by purportedly saying, "How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?"

"The sentence awarded is for two years and against that sentence, he has pleaded that he may be released on bail till appeal period and as per law, the Court has granted him bail for 30 days and until appeal, the sentence is suspended by the Court", Ketan Reshamwala, Advocate for Purnesh Modi said after the conviction.

So who is Purnesh Modi?
Purnesh Modi was a minister in the first tenure of the Bhupendra Patel government. The ruling party legislator was re-elected from the Surat West Assembly seat in the December elections.

In his Twitter account, Purnesh Modi describes himself as "ex.cabinet minister Transport,Civil Aviation,Tourism and Pilgrimage Dev. Govt.Of Gujarat,Parliamentary Secretary,Ex-President".

According to a website, purneshmodi.in, he was born in 1965. "He was elected as Member of Gujarat Legislative Assembly from Surat Pashchim constituency through bypoll in the year 2012. He does not have any criminal records," the website says.