The Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to move a contempt of court petition against Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra over her criticism of the Supreme Court's observations while granting relief to Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case linked to his remarks on the Indian Army.
On Monday, a Supreme Court bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and AG Masih, while staying proceedings in a lower court against the Congress MP, took strong exception to his statement that jawans of the Indian Army were being "thrashed" by the Chinese Army during the Galwan clash along the border in Arunachal Pradesh in December 2022.
"How did you get to know that 2,000 square kilometres of Indian territory were occupied by the Chinese? Were you there? Do you have any credible material? Why do you make these statements without any...If you were a true Indian, you would not say all this," Justice Datta observed.
Reacting to the stern observations by the top court bench, Priyanka rallied behind her brother and argued that Rahul was performing his duty as a leader of the Opposition.
"With due respect to the honourable judges of the Supreme Court, they do not decide who is a true Indian. It is the job of the opposition leader. It is his duty to ask questions and to challenge the government," she told reporters on Tuesday.
The BJP reacted strongly to Priyanka's remarks and claimed she had committed contempt of court by criticizing the Supreme Court's remarks before the media.
"We are going to file a contempt petition against her because she has been making such irresponsible statements without knowing what the court intended to say (to Rahul Gandhi). The petition will be filed by the bar and the lawyers. The public of this country will not tolerate such irresponsible statements," BJP MP Manan Kumar Mishra said on Wednesday.
BJP I-T cell head Amit Malviya took to social media and said the court should take suo motu cognizance of Priyanka's remarks as it did in the case of BJP MP Nishikant Dubey.
"The law must apply equally to all. The Gandhis cannot be allowed to believe they are above it," Malviya said.
"If the Courts won't decide who is national and who is anti-national, then who will? The smug entitlement of the Gandhi family is not just baffling - it reeks of contempt for the judiciary. This brazen defiance is a direct challenge to the authority of the Supreme Court and cannot go unchecked," he added.
Priyanka, however, wasn't the only Congress leader critical of the top court's observations. On Tuesday, Congress MP Manickam Tagore said the top court's remarks were akin to the "language used by the political leadership" currently in power when pressed for answers.
Tagore, Congress MP from Tamil Nadu's Virudhunagar, told NDTV that the Supreme Court's observations on Rahul Gandhi on his allegations of Chinese incursion "gave a wrong message" and allowed the BJP to create a different impression despite the top court's order being positive for the party.
The Congress party later said in a statement that the top court's observations against Rahul Gandhi were "unwarranted" and that leaders of the INDIA bloc agreed with the assessment.
"All the leaders of the India parties agreed that the sitting judge has made an extraordinary observation which is unwarranted on the democratic rights of political parties...It is the responsibility of political parties, especially the Leader of Opposition to comment on issues of national interest," it said.
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