New Delhi: The Congress on Friday said it will move the Supreme Court after the Gujarat High Court refused to stay former Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi's conviction in a criminal defamation case.
The main opposition party alleged that the government was finding newer techniques to throttle their leader's voice as it is rattled by his speaking the 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, AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal said, "There is one more option before us... the Supreme Court. Let's see. The Congress party will seek that option too".
Venugopal said this while addressing a party programme organised in Kozhikode.
"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, 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 washing machine 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.
AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said Rahul Gandhi is fighting the battle for truth and people's interests, and an "arrogant regime" is using all the tricks to deter him.
In a long Twitter post in Hindi soon after the Gujarat High Court order, Priyanka Gandhi quoted the poem "samar shesh hai...(battle is yet to be over)" by Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar' and launched a scathing attack on the Modi government.
"Rahul Gandhi is fighting the battle for truth and people's interests against this 'arrogant regime'," she said. The Congress leader alleged that the "arrogant regime" wants that questions related to people's interests that help improve their lives should not be raised.
"The arrogant regime is trying every trick in the book to suppress the truth, it is adopting all means -- 'saam, daam, dand, bhed, chal, kapat (money, power, punishment, discrimination, deceit)' -- to distract from questions related to the interests of the public," she said.
Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala termed the high court order a "travesty of justice".
"Instead of punishing 'Bank Fraudsters' like Nirav Modi, Ami Modi, Neeshal Modi, Mehul Choksi and ilk, the 'messenger' exposing the deceit and swindling of public money is being punished," Surjewala said in a tweet.
While dismissing Rahul Gandhi's plea, Justice Hemant Prachchhak noted that he is already facing 10 cases across India, adding the order of the lower court was "just, proper and legal" in convicting the Congress leader. The court noted that there is no reasonable ground to stay the conviction in the defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark.
A metropolitan magistrate's court in Surat on March 23 sentenced Rahul Gandhi to two years in jail after convicting him under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 499 and 500 (criminal defamation) in a 2019 case filed by BJP Gujarat MLA Purnesh Modi.
