New Delhi: A day after the Supreme Court stayed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in a defamation case, senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi took a swipe at him on Saturday, saying freedom of speech cannot be used as an “armour for abuse”.
Gandhi on Friday got a huge relief from the Supreme Court after it stayed his conviction in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his Modi surname remark and paved the way for his reinstatement as a Lok Sabha MP.
The stay which will also enable Gandhi, 53, to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was given on the grounds that the trial court in Surat in Gujarat failed to explain why he deserved the maximum two-year punishment upon his conviction that led to his disqualification from the Lower House of Parliament.
Speaking with reporters here, Naqvi said those “notorious for nuisance” should not misuse their “freedom of speech” as an “armour for abuse”.
Some people are celebrating even as their leader has made his “freedom of voice” a “license for freestyle noise”, the former Union minister said in a swipe at Gandhi.
The BJP on Friday had said Parliament “can do with some levity for now” but asserted that Gandhi continues to be on thin ice as several other criminal defamation cases are pending against him. PTI ASK.
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