Rahul Gandhi gets relief in 12-year-old case linked to Muzaffarnagar riots
Sultanpur(PTI): A court here on Tuesday dismissed a revision petition filed against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in a 2013 case in which he was accused of making objectionable remarks against Muslims.
It was alleged that during an election rally in October 2013, Gandhi referred to Muslim youths in connection with the Muzaffarnagar riots and claimed they had links with the ISI, the Pakistani intelligence agency.
Originally, advocate Mohammad Anwar had filed a court complaint when Gandhi was the Congress Vice President.
Mohammad Anwar, Raja Ram Upadhyay, and Vishal Barnwal were presented as witnesses in the case.
On January 30, Special Magistrate Shubham Verma dismissed the complaint.
Following this, Mohammad Anwar approached a District Judge's court with a revision petition against the magistrate's order.
Gandhi's counsel, Kashi Prasad Shukla, presented his arguments in the Fast Track Court-2.
After hearing both sides, Judge Rakesh quashed the petition, effectively giving the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha relief in the matter.
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Unemployed 'youngsters like cockroaches' become media, activists; attack system: CJI
New Delhi (PTI): Likening some unemployed youngsters to cockroaches, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant on Friday said they go on to "become" media, social media and RTI activists and start attacking the system.
The comments came while a bench of CJI Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was pulling up a lawyer for "pursuing" a senior advocate designation. It said there were already "parasites" in society who attack the system and asked the petitioner whether he wanted to join hands with them.
"The entire world may be eligible to become senior (advocate), but at least you are not entitled," the bench told the petitioner lawyer.
A visibly anguished CJI observed that if the Delhi High Court would confer senior advocate designation upon the petitioner, the apex court would set that aside seeing his professional conduct.
The CJI also referred to the kind of language used by the petitioner on Facebook.
"There are already parasites of society who attack the system and you want to join hands with them?" he said.
"There are youngsters like cockroaches, who don't get any employment or have any place in profession. Some of them become media, some of them become social media, RTI activists and other activists and they start attacking everyone," he said.
The bench also asked the petitioner whether he did not have any other litigation.
"Is this the conduct of a person who seeks to be designated as a senior advocate?" the bench asked.
It said senior advocate designation is something that is conferred on a person and is not to be pursued.
"You are pursuing it. Does it look proper?" the top court said, asking whether a senior advocate designation was a status symbol to be kept ornamentally.
It also observed that it wanted to ask the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to verify the degrees of many of those who were wearing black robes as there were serious doubts over the genuineness of their degrees.
It said the Bar Council of India would never do anything on this issue as they "need their votes".
The petitioner apologised to the bench and sought permission to withdraw the petition. The bench allowed the withdrawal of the petition.
