Did not blame RSS for killing Mahatma Gandhi: Rahul to SC
26 Aug 2016 5:16 AM IST
He buttressed his stand by citing paragraphs from his affidavit filed in the Bombay High Court, while challenging the summons issued to him as an accused for his alleged defamatory statement in a 2015 election rally in Maharashtra.
A bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and R F Nariman said if the complainant agrees to the submission, it will take the statement on record and dispose of the petition.
"What we understand is that the accused never blamed RSS as an institution that killed Mahatma Gandhi but the persons associated with it were responsible for the killing," the bench said.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Congress Vice President, cited the affidavit filed before the High Court saying he had only accused certain people of RSS and not the organisation as the killer of Mahatma Gandhi.
"I never made the statement that RSS killed Mahatma Gandhi but persons associated with the RSS killed him," said the senior advocate, who intervened midway when senior counsel U R Lalit, appearing for the complainant, was justifying initiations of criminal proceedings against Gandhi.
The bench indicated it would pass an order on September 1 that Gandhi has "unequivocally" stated that he had never blamed RSS as an institution for the assassination but persons associated with it had killed Mahatma Gandhi.
It asked senior advocate Lalit appearing for Rajesh Mahadev Kunte, Secretary of Bhiwandi Unit of RSS and the complainant, to take instructions on the option of disposing of the matter and posted it on September 1.
Lalit said he would take instruction as to whether the statement, given in the affidavit, is taken on record, then the petition can be disposed of or not.
Congress in damage control, Sibal says no U-turn by Rahul
Though Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday cleared the air before Supreme Court, Twitterati erupted the moment this news went viral that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has taken a stand before Supreme Court that it wasn’t RSS as an institution but people who followed its ideology that killed Mahatma Gandhi.
While campaigning during Lok Sabha elections Gandhi during a public rally on March 6, 2014, had said, that "RSS ke logon ne Gandhiji ko mara, RSS ke logon ne Gandhiji ko goli mara...Usi ke log (BJP) aaj Gandhiji ki baat Karte hain (RSS guys killed Gandhiji, RSS guys killed Gandhi by spraying bullets...today their people (BJP) talk about Gandhiji)."
Most of the tweets claimed that Gandhi has taken a U-turn on his previously given statement.
Swinging swiftly into damage control, Congress spokesperson Kapil Sibal, who is representing Gandhi in apex court, said, “False information is being spread by certain people. Congress party and its VP stand by this view point that Gandhi spoke about in his speech that people who followed RSS ideology killed Mahatma Gandhi.. There is no question of retraction...
Addressing media, Randeep Surjewala, party’s communication department head, added, “It was not just Rahul Gandhi but even Nathuram Godse's brother, Gopal, who also stated that they were members of RSS. Anyone trying to spread rumours about toning down of the stand taken by Congress Vice President in his earlier speech is wrong.”
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