“If You Were a True Indian…”: SC Pulls Up Rahul Gandhi Over China Land Claim
New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): On Monday, the Supreme Court heard a petition filed against the defamation case filed against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his alleged remarks about the Indian Army during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. During the hearing, the court reprimanded Rahul Gandhi and said, how did you know that China has grabbed India's land for 2000 kilometers? If you were a true Indian, you would not have said this.
How do you know that China has occupied the land, if you were a true Indian then…, SC reprimanded Rahul Gandhi: The court also asked, "If you are the leader of the opposition, why are you saying such things on social media? Why don't you ask these questions in Parliament?" Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Rahul Gandhi, argued that "he did not contest the elections to get the freedom to speak in Parliament, but he has the right to speak freely under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution." Singhvi said that Rahul Gandhi did not get natural justice before cognizance was taken in the matter.
Commenting on this, the court said that Rahul Gandhi did not raise this argument in the Allahabad High Court and now this point has not been included in the Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court as well. However, at the end of the hearing, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh government while granting interim relief to Rahul Gandhi and has put a stay on the proceedings going on in the lower court for the time being. This case is related to the comment that Rahul Gandhi made on 9 December 2022 regarding the army and land occupation after the clash on the India-China border. A defamation case has been registered against him in Uttar Pradesh for this comment.