'How do you know China occupied 2,000 sq km of land': SC raps Rahul Gandhi

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday came in for severe criticism from the Supreme Court which rapped him for his alleged derogatory comments against the Indian Army regarding the December 2022 clashes with the Chinese Army, even as it stayed criminal proceedings against him.

“Why do you make these statements without having any material? If you are a true Indian, you won’t say such a thing,” a Bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice AG Masih told Gandhi—who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

“How did you get to know that 2,000 sq km of Indian territory has been occupied by the Chinese? Were you there? Do you have any credible material?” Justice Datta asked.

“You are the Leader of the Opposition. Why don’t you say things in Parliament? Why do you have to say it on social media?” the Bench asked.

The Bench, however, stayed the proceedings against Gandhi before a Lucknow court and issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh Government and the complainant in the case on his petition challenging an Allahabad High Court’s May 29 order dismissing his plea against the summoning order on a complaint filed by one Udai Shanker Srivastava.

On behalf of Gandhi, senior counsel AM Singhvi sought to defend him; it would be an unfortunate situation if the Leader of the Opposition can’t raise issues. “If he can’t say these things which are published in the Press, then he can’t be a Leader of the Opposition,” Singhvi told the Bench.

“It is also possible that a true Indian will say that our 20 Indian soldiers were beaten up and killed. This is also a matter of concern,” the senior lawyer said.

As the Bench wondered if it was unusual to have casualties on either side during a conflict at the border, Singhvi said Gandhi was only raising concerns about suppression of information.

The Bench said as a responsible Leader of the Opposition, Gandhi should have raised such issues on a proper forum.

Agreeing that Gandhi could have made the comments in a better manner, Singhvi said the complaint was nothing but an attempt to harass the Congress leader. Referring to Section 223 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, he pointed out that the trial court could not have taken cognisance of the criminal complaint without giving a prior hearing to the accused.

During his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, Gandhi had allegedly made certain derogatory and defamatory remarks against the Indian Army regarding the December 2022 clashes with the Chinese Army. “Chinese troops are thrashing Indian Army soldiers in Arunachal Pradesh,” Gandhi had allegedly said.

Complainant Srivastava—a retired Director of the Border Roads Organisation—alleged that Gandhi made several derogatory remarks about the Indian Army in context of the conflict with Chinese soldiers. The lower court had summoned Gandhi as an accused for facing trial. Terming Gandhi’s statements as “false and baseless”, he alleged that these were intended to “demoralise the Indian Army” and damage national morale.

Gandhi challenged the summoning order before the Allahabad High Court on the ground that the complaint was motivated and mala fide. He moved the top court after the high court dismissed his plea.