RANCHI: The High Court of Jharkhand on Tuesday exempted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from personal appearance in a Ranchi court in the Modi surname case.

Justice SK Dwivedi also ordered that no coercive steps be taken against Gandhi.

The senior Congress leader had moved the high court challenging the Ranchi MP-MLA court order that had directed him to appear in person in a defamation case.

The case will be heard again on August 16.

One Pradeep Modi had filed the defamation case against Gandhi for his alleged comment "why all thieves share the Modi surname" made at an election rally in April 2019.

In a similar case earlier, the metropolitan magistrate's court in Surat on March 23 sentenced Gandhi to two years in jail after holding him guilty for this remark.

The conviction led to his disqualification as the MP from Wayanad in Kerala.

The Congress leader was released on bail by the Surat court to enable him to challenge the verdict.