Lalit Modi to sue Rahul Gandhi for 'Modis are thieves' remark

New Delhi : Former Indian Premier League chief Lalit Modi on Friday threatened to sue Congress President Rahul Gandhi for his remark mentioning "all thieves have Modi surname."

“Rahul Gandhi says ‘All Modis are thieves. Well, he will be taken to court in the UK by me. But reality is that the world knows five decades of daylight looting of India was done by none other than the Gandhi family,” Lalit Modi tweeted on Friday morning tagging PM Modi on the micro-blogging site.

Rahul Gandhi was attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election rally. Speaking at an election rally earlier this week, he had question how all thieves have Modi in their surname.

“I have a question. Why all thieves have Modi in their names whether it is Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi or Narendra Modi? We don’t know how many more such Modis will come out,” Gandhi said at a public rally in Maharashtra.

Lalit Modi's threat to sue is followed by a defamation case filed by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi against the Congress president.

Sushil Modi has filed a criminal complaint before a Bihar court under Section 500 of IPC (punishment for defamation) against Gandhi for the same comment.

In his petition, Sushil Modi said he “felt hurt” by Gandhi’s “sweeping remarks” at the April 13 rally, which was telecast live on TV news channels, as it tarnished the reputation of those who shared the surname. The matter will come up for hearing on April 22.

PM Modi, too, has hit back at Gandhi for the remark. Speaking at a rally in Chhattisgarh this week, he said, “Is it appropriate to use such language? We have to throw out such people. Abusive language has become the norm. The Sahu community here would have been called Modi in Gujarat. Are they all thieves?”