The Congress on Friday said it will move the Supreme Court after the Gujarat High Court refused to stay Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in a defamation case, and alleged that the government is finding newer techniques to throttle his voice as it is rattled by his speaking truth.
The party said the verdict redoubles its resolve to pursue the matter further and it will fight the battle both legally and politically.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, Congress spokesperson and Gandhi’s counsel in the case Abhishek Singhvi said the Gujarat High Court dismissing Rahul Gandhi’s plea was “highly disappointing, but not unexpected”.
Singhvi said the ultimate court is the court of the people and they see what is happening and how an “entire cottage industry has been unleashed against one individual”.
“I will not reiterate the gymnastics that took place at the stage of the trial, where the complainant got a one-year stay on his own complaint, and then revived it after there was a change on the bench. And, it was that second magistrate, who proceeded to pass that order of conviction. Those are facts, and the facts speak for themselves,” he said.
“The more they have attempted to silence him (Rahul Gandhi); though harassment by the ED and the CBI, the breach of privilege notices, the petty removal of SPG (Special Protection Group) security to the disqualification from Parliament, he remains unmoved. And that is what exposes their fear,” he said.
This government is rattled because Rahul Gandhi speaks with facts and figures on demonetisation, the government’s “clean chit” to China, and the struggling economic situation.
“It is consistent aggression that has compelled the government to find newer and newer techniques to throttle his voice…we are seeing this cycle of oppression and suppression play out once again. We will fight it. Rahul Gandhi will fight it. And if the last nine years are anything to go by, they will always fail to silence his vigilant voice,” Singhvi said.
Earlier in the day in Kozhikode, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal, at a party programme, said, “There is one more option before us… the Supreme Court. Let’s see. The Congress will seek that option too”.
“We will study the Gujarat HC verdict on Sh. @RahulGandhi ji’s conviction and explore all available legal options. Rahul ji is a fierce voice that takes the Modi government head-on. No force can silence him, the truth will triumph and justice will ultimately prevail. Every patriotic Indian is in support of Rahul ji in this fight,” Venugopal said on Twitter.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said no party leader or worker is afraid of BJP’s “political conspiracy”.
He alleged that the BJP has used “lies” as part of a political conspiracy to get Rahul Gandhi suspended from Parliament, asserting that the Congress leader has been fighting for the truth and will continue his fight.
“Shri Rahul Gandhi has always fought for the truth and will continue to fight in the future. The truth is that fugitives like Lalit Modi, Nirav Modi, Mehul “Bhai”, Vijay Mallya, and Jatin Mehta, under the supervision of the Modi government fled the country and reached abroad suspiciously after taking public money,” Kharge said in a tweet in Hindi.
“The BJP freed them, but used lies as part of a political conspiracy, put Mr Rahul Gandhi in the dock and got him suspended from Parliament,” the Congress president tweeted.
In BJP’s rule, firstly the corrupt people run away, and on the other hand, Narendra Modi’s party plays the game of “grabbing power by washing those accused of corruption in its as part of BJP’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan”, he claimed.
“The country is now well aware of Modi ji’s double standards on corruption. None of the Congress leaders, none of our workers are afraid of this political conspiracy. We will fight both the political and the legal battle. Satyamev Jayate,” Kharge said on Twitter.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the reasoning of the judge is being studied and the matter will be taken up further.
“The judgment only redoubles our resolve to pursue the matter further,” he had said on Twitter earlier in the day.
“We have noted the verdict of the single-judge bench of the Gujarat High Court on the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi. The reasoning of the Hon’ble judge is being studied, as it should be, and Dr Abhishek Singhvi will be briefing the media in detail at 3 pm,” he had said.
With inputs from News18
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