True Indian won’t say it: SC raps Rahul on China land grab claim

The Supreme Court on Monday censured senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his alleged derogatory remarks against the Army regarding the December 2022 clashes with the Chinese PLA 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?” said Justice Datta.

“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 said. It, however, stayed the proceedings against Gandhi before a Lucknow court and issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh Government and complainant Udai Shanker Srivastava in the case. Gandhi in his petition had challenged the Allahabad High Court’s May 29 order dismissing his plea against the summoning order.

On behalf of Gandhi, senior counsel AM Singhvi sought to defend him, saying it would be unfortunate if the Leader of the Opposition couldn’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.

Hope he mends ways

These kinds of statements from the LoP are extremely harmful for the nation, and they demoralise our forces. I hope he and the Congress mend their ways after the rebuke from the SC.

Kiren Rijiju, Parliamentary Affairs Minister

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 an appropriate 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 the 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 Army regarding the December 2022 clashes with the Chinese PLA. “Chinese troops are thrashing Army soldiers in Arunachal Pradesh,” Gandhi had allegedly said.

The complainant Srivastava, a retired director of the Border Roads Organisation, alleged that Gandhi had made derogatory remarks about the Army in context of the conflict with Chinese soldiers.