• Source:JND
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The Supreme Court on Friday gave a major relief to Rahul Gandhi as it stayed the Allahabad High Court order that refused to quash the summons issued in the Vinayak Damodar Savarkar defamation case by a trial court in Uttar Pradesh. However, the top court also issued a stern warning to the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) to refrain from making such comments in future as it would draw serious consequences.

A bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Manmohan while hearing the petition said "We will not allow anyone to make statements against our freedom fighters. Next someone will say Mahatma Gandhi was a 'servant to the British'," the court said, "Does your client know Mahatma Gandhi also used 'your faithful servant' while addressing the Viceroy? Does your client know his grandfather, when he was Prime Minister, sent a letter praising the gentleman?" 

Making strong observations, the bench said, "They gave us freedom and you treat them like this...," adding, "Let's not make irresponsible statements on freedom fighters...you made a good point on law and are entitled to a stay."

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The top court told Gandhi's lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi that it will take suo motu cognisance of further comments.

It must be noted that Rahul Gandhi was not present in the court today when the court rebuked him, as he is in Jammu and Kashmir. He is visiting the union territory after tourists were attacked by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists in Pahalgam on April 22.  As many as 26 people, including a Nepali national, died in the attack while several others were injured. 

Following the attack, India and Pakistan have taken an escalatory spiral of measures that have taken bilateral relations to further lows. Meanwhile, security forces have been hunting the terrorists involved in the attack. 

The houses of two terrorists — Asif Sheikh, believed to be a conspirator, and Adil Thoker, the terrorist involved in the attack, were destroyed in the explosions.

(With Inputs From Agencies)