Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, the interim president of the Congress, have filed an affidavit with the Delhi High Court in an effort to have a case seeking action against them for alleged hate speeches made during the 2020 CAA-NRC protests rejected.
The plea claimed that the speeches given by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi sparked the communal violence that resulted in the riots in Delhi in 2020. The Gandhis disputed the assertion, stating in their affidavit that the argument had been chosen ‘selectively’ and ‘gives away the larger conspiracy behind the exercise.’
‘The acts have fallen on independent, non-conformist sections and leaders of the opposition parties. Meanwhile, a series of speeches made by the members of the ruling party, falling squarely within the ambit of the sections under which the present writ is seeking action against the respondents, have been conveniently left out by the petitioner, revealing the coloured nature of the exercise,’ the affidavit read.
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) opposition was not a ‘incitement to violence,’ the affidavit said. According to Gandhi’s affidavit, ‘Holding, expressing a bonafide opinion in the public interest on a bill passed by Parliament is not a reasonable restriction and violates the basic principles on which our democracy is founded.’
‘To prevent a citizen from expressing a bonafide opinion against any bill or law passed by the government and putting it in the public domain to inform, generate a debate, build public opinion for reforms/change is violative of our right to free speech,’ it stated.
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