NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has strongly criticised Rahul Gandhi’s remarks about Chinese encroachment on the border. A bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih asked where Rahul got the information that China had occupied 2000 square kilometers of Indian land.
Was Rahul there? Is there any evidence? Why is he making such statements without any evidence in hand? Can you say this when there is a conflict on the border? The Court also made a stern observation that if Rahul were a true Indian, he would not have said anything like this. Meanwhile, further proceedings in the defamation case filed against Rahul in the Lucknow court were stayed for three weeks. Rahul’s plea to quash the summons and case of the Lucknow court was considered. The Allahabad High Court had refused to do so.
The defamation case was filed by Uday Shankar Srivastava, former director of Border Roads Organisation (BRO), against Rahul’s remarks during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. He argued that the speech that Chinese soldiers were beating Indian soldiers in Arunachal Pradesh was defamatory of the army. Rahul was talking about the clash that took place in the Galwan Valley in 2020. The Supreme Court ordered to send notices to the opposing parties.
A real citizen will say: Rahul’s lawyer
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Rahul, told the court that it is unfortunate that he cannot raise important issues as the Leader of the Opposition. These are the things that have come out in the media. He added that a real Indian citizen would say that Indian soldiers were thrashed to death and that it is worrying.
The court asked again whether it is unnatural for there to be casualties on both sides when there is a conflict on the border. Court also asked whether Rahul should be making allegations on social media instead of raising them in Parliament.
Earlier, the bench headed by Justice Dipankar Dutta had taken a strong stand against Rahul for making remarks against V.D. Savarkar. The bench had made it clear that Savarkar was a freedom fighter and that if Rahul continued to make bad remarks, a case would be suo motu filed against him.