New Delhi: The Congress on Friday hailed as “strong vindication of truth” the Supreme Court ruling staying the conviction of Rahul Gandhi in a 2019 defamation case and urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to restore his membership of the Lower House.
The Opposition party said the Constitution has been upheld and the BJP’s “conspiratorial hounding of Gandhi has been thoroughly exposed”.
In a big relief to Gandhi, the Supreme Court stayed his conviction in the case over his Modi surname remark, paving the way for revival of his Lok Sabha membership.
The Lok Sabha speaker can now revive his membership on his own or Gandhi, armed with the apex court order, seek restoration of his status as an MP.
Soon after the Supreme Court ruling, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury met Birla and urged him to restore Gandhi’s membership.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hailed the Supreme Court ruling saying “truth alone triumphs”.
“We welcome the verdict by the Hon’ble Supreme Court giving relief to Shri @RahulGandhi. Justice has been delivered. Democracy has won. The Constitution has been upheld. BJP’s conspiratorial hounding of Shri Gandhi has been thoroughly exposed,” he said in a tweet.
“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 welcomed the Supreme Court ruling and cited a quote by Gautam Buddha – “Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.”
She thanked the apex court for the decision and wrote “Satyameva Jayate”.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the judgment is a strong vindication of truth and justice.
“Despite the relentless efforts of the BJP’s machinery, Rahul Gandhi has refused to bend, break or bow, choosing instead to place his faith in the judicial process,” he said on Twitter.
“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.
As the news came in of the Supreme Court’s ruling, Chowdhury, speaking in Lok Sabha, urged the Chair to allow Rahul Gandhi to attend the House.
When the House was taking up private members’ business, Chowdhury urged Rajendra Agrawal, who was presiding over the proceedings, to allow Gandhi to attend the House.
“Our leader Rahul ji got relief from the Supreme Court. I demand from the Chair to allow him to attend the House at the earliest,” he said.
Agrawal said the Speaker would naturally take cognisance of the development.
Congress’ general secretary organisation K C Venugopal also hailed the verdict.
“We welcome the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s verdict staying Sh. @RahulGandhi ji’s conviction. Justice has prevailed. No force can silence the voice of the people,” Venugopal said on Twitter.
In a tweet in Hindi, the Congress said, “It is a victory of love over hate. Satyamev Jayate — Jai Hind.”
Party general secretary Randeep Surjewala said justice has prevailed.
“The roar of truth will be heard again the halls of democracy!” he said.
A three-judge bench of justices B R Gavai, P S Narasimha and Sanjay Kumar said there is no doubt that the utterances were not in good taste and that a person in public life is expected to exercise caution while making public speeches.
“No reason has been given by the trial judge for imposing maximum sentence, the order of conviction needs to be stayed pending final adjudication,” the bench said.
The top court was hearing a plea by Gandhi challenging the Gujarat High Court verdict which dismissed his plea seeking a stay on his conviction in a defamation case over his “Modi surname” remark.
Former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi had filed the criminal defamation case in 2019 against Gandhi over his “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?” remark made during an election rally in Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019.
