Ranchi, Aug 16 (IANS): In a relief to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, the Jharkhand High Court on Wednesday exempted him from personal appearance in a Ranchi court in the Modi surname case.

Justice SK Dwivedi delivered the judgment while hearing a petition filed by Rahul Gandhi seeking exemption from personal appearance before an MP-MLA court.

Earlier, the MP-MLA court of Ranchi had ordered Rahul Gandhi to appear while dismissing his plea seeking exemption from personal appearance.

Rahul Gandhi filed a petition in the Jharkhand High Court against the order of the Special MP-MLA court, on which the second hearing took place on Wednesday. He had sought exemption from personal appearance under section 205 of the CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure).

During the last hearing on July 4, the High Court had ordered that no coercive steps be taken against Rahul Gandhi, and had sought a response from Pradeep Modi, the complainant in the case.

On Wednesday, after hearing the arguments of both the sides, the High Court exempted Rahul Gandhi from personal appearance. Advocates Piyush, Chitresh and Dipankar Roy presented their side on behalf of Rahul.

The Modi surname case was filed by Pradeep Modi, a resident of Ranchi, for Rahul's alleged comment - "why all thieves share the Modi surname" - made at an election rally in April 2019.

He had also filed a separate suit for defamation, seeking Rs 20 crore as damages from Gandhi.