Patna, March 30 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been summoned by Patna MP-MLA court on April 12 to record his statement on a petition filed by BJP senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi over his "Modi surname" remark. Sushil Modi has levelled criminal defamation charges against Gandhi for making statements against people with Modi surname. The court has directed Rahul Gandhi's lawyer to appear before it. Rahul Gandhi, during the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign in Karnataka, said that all people having Modi surname are thieves. He had also said that Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi had taken away thousands of crores of rupees and fled the country. Apart from Sushil Kumar Modi, former road construction minister Nitin Navin, Bankipur MLA, BJP leader Sanjiv Chaurasia and Manish Kumar, BJYM leader have already recorded their statements as witnesses in the court. After the conviction by the Surat court, the Congress has taken a tough stand over the conviction. As per sources, Rahul Gandhi may appear in Patna MP-MLA court as well. On March 23, a Surat court convicted the Congress leader for speaking ill of Modi surname and sentenced him to two years imprisonment. This led to his disqualification from Parliament as member from Kerala's Wayanad constituency. /IANS