Rahul Gandhi, Randeep Surjewala summoned over ADC defamation plaint

AHMEDABAD: A metropolitan court on Monday summoned Congress president Rahul Gandhi and party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, after taking cognizance of defamation complaints filed by Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank and its chairman Ajay Patel, with regard to their comment on post-demonetization transactions.

Additional chief metropolitan magistrate S K Gadhvi summoned both Congress leaders on May 27 after concluding that the comments made by them were prima facie defamatory in nature, said ADC Bank’s advocate, Ajitsinh Jadeja.

Last August, the bank and its chairman sought action under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Gandhi and Surjewala, for allegedly defaming them by projecting them as scamsters by claiming that they had carried out a Rs 745 crore scam post-demonetization. They presented five witnesses each to substantiate their complaints.

The complainants took exception to Surjewala’s press briefing and statement issued on June 22, when he claimed that currency notes worth Rs 745 were deposited between November 10 and 14, 2016, after the Centre decided to demonetize high-value currency notes. They also objected to the linking of BJP president Amit Shah with the bank, as one of its directors, in order to allude that the scam had taken place in his bank.

The objection against Gandhi was on the basis of his tweet in response to Surjewala’s statement at the press conference. Gandhi had stated, “Congratulations Amit Shah ji , Director, Ahmedabad Dist. Cooperative Bank, on your bank winning 1st prize in the conversion of old notes to new race. 750 Cr in 5 days! Millions of Indians whose lives were destroyed by Demonetisation, salute your achievement. #ShahZyadaKhaGaya.”

Reiterating that Gandhi and Surjewala damaged the bank’s, its directors’, its chairman’s and its depositors’ reputations by portraying the bank as one indulging in a scam after demonetization. The complainant also cited Gandhi’s statements in his tweet about Shah with his photograph - “The Director of the bank that collected the highest number of demonetized notes” and “The President of the party that got 81% richer after demonetization”. The complainants asserted that the affairs of the bank had nothing to do with the Bhartiya Janata Party.

The bank also cited a clarification issued by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) on Surjewala’s statements. It was submitted that the average deposit amount in the ADC Bank was Rs 46,795 per account holder, which was lower than the average per depositor in 18 district cooperative banks in Gujarat. The complainants claimed that the bank did not have even deposits of 7% of the amount alleged by Congress leaders.

The court conducted an inquiry on these plaints, heard complainants and five witnesses who substantiated the defamation complaints.