NEW DELHI, Nov 20: The Supreme Court on Thursday extended its interim order staying proceedings against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi until December 4 in a case over his alleged derogatory remarks about the Indian Army during his 2022 Bharat Jodo Yatra.
A bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma deferred the hearing after noting a request for adjournment. The top court is hearing Gandhi’s plea challenging the Allahabad High Court’s May 29 order dismissing his challenge to the trial court’s summoning in Lucknow.
Earlier, the bench questioned Gandhi on the basis of his alleged statements regarding Chinese occupation of Indian territory, asking whether he had credible material to substantiate his claims.
Gandhi’s counsel, Senior Advocate Abhishek Singhvi, argued that the Leader of Opposition must be able to raise issues freely and cited Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, emphasizing that prior hearing of the accused is mandatory before cognisance of a criminal complaint, which was not done in this case.
The complaint, filed by Udai Shanker Srivastava, alleged that Gandhi made derogatory remarks about the Indian Army during clashes with Chinese troops. Gandhi’s advocate contended that the allegations appeared fabricated and that proper verification should have been conducted before summoning him, noting that Gandhi is not a Lucknow resident. (Agencies)
