Supreme court rebukes Rahul Gandhi over remarks against Indian Army, says 'true Indian would never say this'
PTC News Desk: The Supreme Court on Monday rapped Rahul Gandhi over his remark that China annexed more than 2,000 kilometres of Indian territory, citing that a 'true Indian would never make such a claim'. The court however paused the defamation proceedings against Gandhi related to the statement.
"How did you know about 2,000 km being annexed by the Chinese?," the top court asked, while hearing Gandhi's plea challenging the defamation case. It stressed, "If you're a true Indian, you wouldn't say it".
During his 2023 Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Congress leader claimed that a former Army officer had told him that China had occupied 2,000 square kilometres of Indian territory.
A bench comprising Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih cautioned Gandhi as to why he was making statements on social media instead of raising such issues in the parliament.
"Why in social media post and not in parliament? How do you get to know when 2000 sq km was acquired by China? What is the credible material? A true Indian will not say this. When there is a conflict across border, can you say all this. Why can't you ask the question in parliament? Just because you have 19(1)(a) [freedom of speech] you cannot say anything," the Bench said.
Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi representing Rahul Gandhi said the remarks by Gandhi cannot be a ground for a third party to file defamation case.
"But you cannot harass somebody like this with defamation charges. High Court says he (complainant) was not a person aggrieved but defamed. High Court reasoning was novel was not correct," Singhvi said.
The case stemmed from a complaint filed by Uday Shankar Srivastava, a former director of the Border Roads Organisation with a rank equivalent to an Army Colonel, alleging that the remarks were derogatory and defamatory towards the Indian military forces.
- With inputs from agencies
