“A true Indian would not say this”: SC Slams Rahul Gandhi

• The Supreme Court granted a three-week stay on a criminal defamation case against Rahul Gandhi.
• The case concerns his comments on the Indian Army and the Galwan clashes during his Bharat Jodo Yatra in 2022.
• A judge verbally rebuked Gandhi, questioning his sources and stating that a “true Indian” would not make such remarks.

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 4th Aug: The Supreme Court today stayed the proceedings in a criminal defamation case against Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, but not before delivering a strong verbal rebuke over his alleged remarks against the Indian Army.

A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih granted a three-week stay on the case, which originated from a complaint filed by Uday Shankar Srivastava, a former director of the Border Roads Organisation. The complaint was over a comment Gandhi made during his Bharat Jodo Yatra in December 2022, where he allegedly said, “Chinese soldiers are beating up Indian Army personnel” during the 2020 Galwan clashes.

During the hearing, Justice Datta directly questioned the basis of Gandhi’s statements. “How do you get to know that 2000 square kilometres of Indian territory have been occupied by the Chinese? Were you there? Do you have any credible material?” he asked Gandhi’s counsel, Senior Advocate A.M. Singhvi. In a stinging observation, the judge added, “If you are a true Indian, you would not say all these things.” The court also questioned why Gandhi, as Leader of the Opposition, chose to make such comments at a public event instead of in Parliament, where he has a formal platform.

The court’s observations have ignited a fresh political storm. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) immediately seized on the remarks to launch a scathing attack on the Congress leader. BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia questioned whether Gandhi was aiding India’s adversaries, while the party’s IT cell chief, Amit Malviya, went further, calling him a “certified anti-national” in a post on X.

In a counter-offensive, the Congress hit back at the government. Senior party leader Jairam Ramesh, while welcoming the court’s stay, accused the Modi government of following a policy of “DDLJ—Deny, Distract, Lie, and Justify” to avoid questions on Chinese incursions. He reiterated the party’s demand for transparency on the border situation and questioned the government’s policies regarding China.

The court’s decision to stay the case was based on a technical legal point raised by Gandhi’s counsel, who argued that he was not given a prior hearing before the summons were issued. The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government and the complainant, with the matter set to be heard again after three weeks.