New Delhi: The Congress on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court's decision to stay the conviction of their leader Rahul Gandhi in the 'Modi surname' case saying that justice has prevailed and no force can silence the voice of people.
The relief to Gandhi, a former Congress President, means that he will be able to attend the Monsoon session of the Lok Sabha, which is currently underway. The party workers celebrated the relief which was given to Gandhi, a Member of Parliament, at the party headquarters in the national capital minutes after the order by the apex court.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that this is the victory of the people. "This the victory of democracy. The disqualification happened in 24 hours, now it remains to be seen how much time, they (the Narendra Modi regime), take to reinstate him. We have waited for long. I will only say that this is the victory of the voters of the Wayanad constituency. The people of Wayanad are celebrating the judgment of the Supreme Court," Kharge told reporters at the AICC headquarters here.
"It is a very happy day for us, democracy has won, the Constitution has won," quipped Kharge, who was flanked by Rahul Gandhi and senior leader and advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented Rahul Gandhi in the matter in the top court.
Also read: Modi surname defamation: SC stays conviction of Rahul Gandhi
Congress leaders KC Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, and P Chidambaram also hailed the order of the apex court.
"We welcome the Honourable Supreme Court’s verdict staying Shri Rahul Gandhiji's conviction. Justice has prevailed. No force can silence the voice of the people," Congress General Secretary and Rajya Sabha member KC Venugopal said in a Tweet minutes after the ruling of the top court.
A bench comprising justices B R Gavai, P S Narasimha, and Sanjay Kumar said the trial court judge should have given some reason to impose a maximum sentence of two years on Gandhi in the case. The bench observed that the trial court and high court spent volumes of pages in writing the judgment but gave no reason why they are imposing a maximum sentence.
KC Venugopal told reporters here, "The Speaker has to take a decision now. The entire country and world is now looking at the Speaker. Automatically, this (disqualification) should be revoked immediately. This is what we need, this is what the country needs. Our leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha will officially request the Speaker with a copy of the judgment."
Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram said that the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla should restore Rahul Gandhi's membership in the Lower House of the Parliament.
