
‘Is he helping nations inimical to our country?' asks BJP after SC raps Rahul Gandhi over remarks on Army
Addressing a press conference, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said the Supreme Court's rap shows that Gandhi need to be 'careful' with his future statements.
'Certainly, Mr (Rahul) Gandhi needs to be more careful in future… the question arises — does India deserve a better leader of opposition. The question arises — as a leader of Opposition, who has taken oath under the Constitution to protect the sovereignty of the country is destroying the sovereignty of our country,' he said.
He also added: 'Is he helping the nations that are inimical to our country. and is he demoralising the brave Indian armed forces. What kind of leader of Opposition he is, who makes such irresponsible statement?'
The apex court stayed the proceedings in a criminal defamation case against Gandhi over his alleged remarks on the Army over the 2020 Galwan clash with the Chinese.
Presiding over a two-judge bench, Justice Dipankar Datta told Senior Advocate A M Singhvi, who appeared for the Congress leader, 'We have read the comments… Tells us… How do you get to know that 2000 square kilometres of Indian territory have been occupied by the Chinese? Were you there? Do you have any credible material? Why do you make these statements without having any…?'
The top court was hearing Gandhi's appeal challenging the Allahabad High Court judgment refusing to stay the proceedings initiated in a Lucknow trial court against him over his comments that 'Chinese soldiers are beating up Indian Army personnel'. As per the complainant, Uday Shankar Srivastava, the former director of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), the comments made on December 16, 2022, during Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra, defamed the Army.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Mint
20 minutes ago
- Mint
PM Narendra Modi to address crucial NDA meeting ahead of V-P polls and amid Parliament logjam today
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) parliamentary party meeting today. This get-together of the ruling alliance's MPs is being held after a considerable gap, news agency PTI said. The NDA meeting, which Narendra Modi will chair, will take place a couple of days before nominations for the vice president's election begin on 7 August. The NDA must announce its candidate, whose election will be a certainty due to the alliance's majority in the electoral college, by 21 August, the last date of nomination filing and the Monsoon Session of Parliament. The meeting also comes in the middle of a session which has been all but a washout so far, except for a two-day discussion on the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor, due to a united Opposition's ceaseless protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar by the Election Commission. PM Modi is expected to speak on a host of current issues as the Opposition has been raising the heat over the poll body's alleged partisan conduct favouring the government, and the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor. The prime minister is also likely to be felicitated by the parliamentary party over his government's military response to the terror strike. The electoral college for the vice president poll includes MPs of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, and its current strength is 782. If the Opposition also names a candidate, a distinct possibility, then the poll is scheduled to be held on 9 September. Sources said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju and a few BJP national general secretaries are likely to be coordinating with allies for the vice presidential poll. Since the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when the BJP lost its majority but comfortably crossed the halfway mark with allies, the sessional meeting of the party's MPs was expanded to include its allies. PM Modi had addressed the first such meeting on July 2. However, no meeting has been held in the last few sessions. Before the last national elections, he addressed the weekly meetings of the BJP parliamentary party, which has now expanded to include party allies such as the TDP, JD(U), and LJP (Ram Vilas). The meeting is attended by MPs of the ruling alliance, and PM Modi often discusses a wide range of political and governance issues and, at times, touches on the government's agenda in Parliament. He often offers the MPs talking points to be raised in public, especially in their constituencies.
&w=3840&q=100)

First Post
20 minutes ago
- First Post
Ukraine raises alarm over Indian-made components found in Russian drones, flags issue with MEA: Report
Ukraine has formally raised concerns with India and the European Union after Indian-made or assembled electronic parts were reportedly found in Iranian drones used by Russia in the Ukraine war, report says. read more Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting, at Mariinskyi Palace in Kyiv, Ukraine in August 2024. File image/PTI Ukraine has formally raised concerns with the Indian government and the European Union over electronic components manufactured or assembled in India that were found in Iranian-designed drones used by Russian forces in the Ukraine war, Hindustan Times reported, citing sources. According to officials familiar with the matter, Ukraine approached India's Ministry of External Affairs through diplomatic channels on at least two occasions since last year, after Indian-origin components were discovered in Shahed-136 combat drones used by Russia. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The issue was also brought up with EU sanctions envoy David O'Sullivan during his visit to New Delhi in July. O'Sullivan was in India to brief officials on the EU's latest sanctions package, which included action against Russian-linked entities, including the Vadinar refinery. Ukrainian investigations reportedly identified components from two firms, Vishay Intertechnology and Aura Semiconductor, in the drones. A bridge rectifier made by Vishay, assembled in India, was found in the voltage regulation system, while a chip produced by Bengaluru-based Aura Semiconductor was used in the satellite navigation antenna. Officials clarified that the companies have not violated any Indian laws, as the components are classified as dual-use items, technologies that can serve both civilian and military purposes. Responding to the development, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India's export of dual-use items adheres to international non-proliferation norms and is governed by a robust domestic legal framework. 'Due diligence is conducted to ensure such exports do not violate any of our laws,' he said. While the Ukrainian embassy in New Delhi has not issued an official statement, Ukraine's Defence Intelligence Directorate (HUR) has publicly reported the presence of Indian-origin parts in Shahed drones on its official Facebook and Telegram channels. Vishay Intertechnology, a US-based electronics manufacturer, did not respond to requests for comment. Meanwhile, Kishore Ganti, co-founder of Aura Semiconductor, said the company fully complies with all national and international export control laws and strongly opposes any unauthorised use of its products. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'We are deeply disturbed by the possibility that any of our components may have reached defence manufacturers through unauthorised third-party channels, in violation of our compliance policies and distribution agreements. We are committed to investigating and addressing any compliance gaps,' Aura said in a statement.


Hindustan Times
20 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Disability no licence to fire govt employees: SC
The employer's discretion ends where the employee's dignity begins, the Supreme Court held while ruling that public sector employers cannot mechanically retire employees who acquire disabilities during service without first exploring meaningful alternatives for their redeployment. Disability no licence to fire govt employees: SC 'While judicial restraint guards against overreach, it must not become an excuse for disengagement from injustice. When an employee is removed from service for a condition he did not choose, and where viable alternatives are ignored, the Court is not crossing a line by intervening, it is upholding one drawn by the Constitution itself,' said a bench of justices JK Maheshwari and Aravind Kumar, in a significant reaffirmation of the constitutional right to dignity and equality in employment. The August 1 judgment came as the bench directed the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) to reinstate a driver who was compulsorily retired in 2016 after being diagnosed with colour blindness. Coming down hard on TSRTC for its failure to consider alternative roles for the driver, who had expressed willingness to be reassigned to a non-driving post, the court held that this omission was not just an administrative lapse, but a violation of both statutory obligations and constitutional principles. The judgment drew upon the principle that public employers are duty-bound to provide 'reasonable accommodation' to employees who acquire disabilities during service. Retirement on medical grounds, the court said, must be a measure of last resort, only after all viable options for redeployment have been exhausted. 'The obligation to reasonably accommodate such employees is not just a matter of administrative grace, but a constitutional and statutory imperative, rooted in the principles of non-discrimination, dignity and equal treatment,' noted the bench. The judgment further drew strength from a consistent line of rulings to reaffirm that beneficial legislation must be interpreted purposively to protect the rights of disabled employees. 'Employment security is central not only to individual dignity but also to familial survival,' said the court, emphasising that livelihood cannot be severed 'by the stroke of a medical certificate' without first exhausting all avenues for reassignment. The court cited the example of the driver seeking reassignment to the post of Shramik (helper) , a job that did not require normal colour vision. However, the Corporation did not even attempt to assess his suitability for such a role. According to the bench, the burden lies on the employer, not the employee, to prove that no suitable post exists or can be reasonably created. The court also referenced the pertinent provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act and a binding memorandum of settlement signed by TSRTC in 1979, which explicitly mandated alternate employment for colour-blind drivers with pay protection and continuity of service. The court ruled that TSRTC failed to comply with this binding obligation, adding that internal circulars cited by the Corporation in denying alternate employment, were merely administrative instructions and could not override statutory service conditions created by an industrial settlement. The bench further made it clear that even in the absence of such a settlement, constitutional and statutory principles demand the accommodation of employees who develop disabilities. 'This obligation is not rooted in compassion, but in constitutional discipline and statutory expectation,' it stated. The bench thus ordered the Corporation to appoint the driver to a suitable post consistent with his condition, at the same pay grade he held in 2016, within eight weeks. It also directed payment of 25% of arrears from the date of retirement until reinstatement and held that the intervening period must be treated as continuous service. 'In doing so, we not only vindicate the appellant's rights but also reaffirm our constitutional commitment to a just and humane employer-employee relationship,' the bench concluded.