SC Warns Rahul Gandhi Against Remarks on Our Freedom Fighters: The Veer Savarkar Controversy
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Synopsis
The Supreme Court reprimanded Rahul Gandhi for his comments on freedom fighter Vinayak Savarkar, urging him to avoid making irresponsible statements against freedom fighters. The court warned of potential legal actions if he continues this behavior.
Key Takeaways
- Supreme Court criticized Rahul Gandhi's remarks on Savarkar.
- Justice Datta warned against irresponsible statements about freedom fighters.
- Rahul assured the court he would refrain from such comments.
- Legal proceedings against him were temporarily halted.
- Rahul Gandhi was previously disqualified from Lok Sabha due to other defamation cases.
New Delhi, April 25 (NationPress) The Supreme Court has strongly criticized Opposition Leader in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, regarding his supposed derogatory statements about the freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. In November 2022, during his Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi made disparaging remarks about Savarkar at a rally held in Akola, Maharashtra.
A panel consisting of Justices Dipankar Datta and Manmohan urged Rahul Gandhi to abstain from making “irresponsible statements,” emphasizing that he should not speak ill of freedom fighters.
“Didn’t Mahatma Gandhi refer to the Viceroy as ‘your faithful servant’? Such terminology does not imply servitude. Next, will someone claim that Mahatma Gandhi was a servant of the British?” they commented.
The bench led by Justice Datta warned that should the Congress leader make further comments of this nature, the court would initiate suo motu action against him.
“Let’s be unequivocal, any additional statements will lead us to take suo motu action! We will not permit you to speak against our freedom fighters. They have bestowed freedom upon us, and this is how we treat them?” the apex court stated while addressing Rahul Gandhi’s appeal to dismiss a 2022 defamation case against him.
After senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi assured that Rahul Gandhi would refrain from making such comments going forward, the Justice Datta-led panel issued an interim order halting the lower court's summons for him to face trial under Sections 153-A and 505 of the now-repealed Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Previously, the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court had refused to exercise its inherent powers in favor of Rahul Gandhi, who sought to quash the entire legal proceedings.
A single-judge Bench led by Justice Subhash Vidyarthi, in an order dated April 4, noted that Rahul Gandhi had the legal option to file a revision against the lower court's order.
“As the petitioner has a legal remedy of filing a revision under Section 397/399 CrPC, this court does not see this as a suitable case for invoking its inherent powers under Section 482 CrPC,” stated the Allahabad HC.
Under the IPC of 1860, Section 153-A pertains to the offense of “promoting animosity between different groups based on religion, race, caste, etc.,” while Section 505 concerns “statements leading to public mischief.”
Earlier this year in January, the Supreme Court temporarily halted trial court proceedings in a defamation case against Rahul Gandhi, initiated by a BJP worker over his alleged slanderous remarks about Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
During a public address in Chaibasa, Jharkhand prior to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi labeled Shah a “murder accused.”
In August 2023, the Supreme Court suspended Rahul Gandhi's conviction in the ‘Modi surname’ defamation case, which had led to his disqualification from Lok Sabha, stating that the trial judge failed to provide justification for imposing the maximum sentence of two years. Following this ruling, the Lok Sabha Secretariat reinstated his parliamentary membership on August 7, 2023.
Rahul Gandhi faced disqualification as an MP in March 2023 after being convicted and sentenced to two years in prison for his comments regarding “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?” made during an election rally in Karnataka in April 2019. His statement was interpreted as an attempt to draw an implicit connection between Prime Minister Modi and fugitive businessmen Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi.
