Remarks against Army: SC extends stay on trial court proceedings against Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Thursday extended till December 4 its interim order staying proceedings against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a case related to his alleged derogatory remarks against the Indian Army during his 2022 Bharat Jodo Yatra.
A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma deferred the hearing in the matter, noting there was a letter circulated for adjournment.
The bench was hearing Gandhi's plea challenging a May 29 order of the Allahabad High Court dismissing his plea challenging the trial court's summoning order in the case.
While hearing Gandhi's plea on August 4, the top court stayed till the next date of hearing further proceedings in the case pending before a court in Lucknow.
"How do you get to know that 2,000 sq km of Indian territory has been occupied by Chinese? Were you there? Do you have any credible material?" the bench had earlier asked Gandhi about his alleged remarks.
"Why do you make these statements without having any material? If you are a true Indian, you won't say such a thing," it added.
The top court had then issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government and the complainant in the case seeking their responses on Gandhi's plea.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Gandhi, had told the apex court that it would be an unfortunate situation if the Leader of Opposition cannot raise issues. He referred to Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and said prior hearing of the accused was mandatory before the court took cognisance of a criminal complaint, which was not done in the present case.
In his plea filed in a court, complainant Udai Shanker Srivastava alleged that Gandhi made several derogatory remarks against the Indian Army in context of the clashes with Chinese soldiers during his December 2022 yatra.
The trial court summoned Gandhi as an accused for facing trial for the alleged offence of defamation. Gandhi's advocate Pranshu Agarwal argued that the allegations appeared to be fabricated, just by reading the complaint.
It was also argued that Gandhi is not a resident of Lucknow. So the trial court should have investigated the veracity of the allegations before summoning him on this complaint, and he should have been summoned only if the allegations were prima facie found to be fit for trial.
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Rupee falls 9 paise to all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): Rupee depreciated 9 paise to an all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade on Monday, weighed down by uncertainty over an India-US trade deal and persistent foreign fund outflows.
Forex traders said rupee is trading with a negative bias as investors are in wait and watch mode and awaiting cues from the India-US trade deal front.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.53 against the US dollar, then fell further to an all-time intraday low of 90.58 against the greenback, registering a fall of 9 paise over its previous close.
On Friday, the rupee had slipped 17 paise to close at an all-time low of 90.49 against the American currency.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.05 per cent lower at 98.35.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 0.52 per cent at USD 61.44 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex was trading 298.86 points lower at 84,968.80, while the Nifty was down 121.40 points at 25,925.55.
Foreign Institutional Investors sold equities worth Rs 1,114.22 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
"FPIs continue to be in selling mode in equity and debt while RBI has been selling dollars to fund their long positions," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
