SC ruling on Rahul Gandhi: Strong vindication of truth, says Congress

The Congress on Friday (August 4) described the Supreme Court decision to stay the conviction of Rahul Gandhi in a 2019 defamation case as a “strong vindication of truth” and asked Speaker Om Birla to restore his membership of the Lok Sabha.

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In a huge relief to Gandhi, whose membership of the Lower House was taken away in March following a Gujarat court ruling, the Supreme Court stayed his conviction over his Modi surname remark, paving the way for him to re-enter the Lok Sabha.

The Congress said the constitution had been upheld and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s “conspiratorial hounding of Gandhi has been thoroughly exposed”.

Soon after the Supreme Court ruling, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, met Birla and urged him to restore Gandhi’s membership.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said: “Truth alone triumphs.”

Kharge hails SC

“We welcome the verdict by the Supreme Court… Justice has been delivered. Democracy has won. The constitution has been upheld. BJPs conspiratorial hounding of Shri Gandhi has been thoroughly exposed,” he tweeted.

“Time for them to stop their malicious targeting of opposition leaders. It is high time they respect the mandate given by the people and start governing the country, on which they have miserably failed in the last 10 years,” he said.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra cited a comment by Gautam Buddha: “Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth.”

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the judgment was a strong vindication of truth and justice.

“Despite the relentless efforts of the BJPs machinery, Rahul Gandhi has refused to bend, break or bow, choosing instead to place his faith in the judicial process,” he said.

More salute SC

“Let this be a lesson to the BJP and its acolytes: you can do your absolute worst but we will not back down. We will continue to expose and call out your failures as a Government and as a party. We will continue to uphold our Constitutional ideals and repose faith in our institutions which you so desperately want to destroy. Satyameva Jayate!” Ramesh said.

Congress leader KC Venugopal added: “Justice has prevailed. No force can silence the voice of the people.”

A three-judge bench of justices BR Gavai, PS Narasimha and Sanjay Kumar said there was no doubt that Rahul Gandhi’s utterances were not in good taste and that a person in public life is expected to exercise caution while making public speeches.

But they added: “No reason has been given by the trial judge for imposing maximum sentence, the order of conviction needs to be stayed pending final adjudication.”

(With agency inputs)