NEW DELHI: In a significant relief for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Allahabad High Court’s order refusing to quash the summons issued to him in a defamation case over his alleged remarks against freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.“Issue notice. Stay on impugned order (of the Allahabad High Court),” the top court said in its order.A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Manmohan, strongly criticised Gandhi’s comments, terming them “irresponsible”, and warned him against repeating such statements in the future.“Let us not mock our freedom fighters,” the bench told Gandhi, cautioning him over his choice of words.During the hearing, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Gandhi, was questioned by the court on whether Gandhi was aware that his grandmother, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, had once written a letter praising Savarkar.“How can he make irresponsible statements on our freedom fighters without knowing history, geography about it?” the court remarked.The bench also pointed out that even Mahatma Gandhi had used the words “your faithful servant” in his correspondence with the British. “This way you will say Mahatma Gandhi is servant of Britishers,” the court said, adding, “You have a good point on law, but comments like this are unwarranted.”
Source link
