New Delhi [India], August 5 : After the Supreme Court pulled up Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on the India-China clash of December 9, 2022, Congress MP Imraan Masood on Tuesday said the government should clarify the status of Indian territory held in 2014 and now in 2024.
Speaking to ANI, Masood said, "Citizenship of India does not have any mandates in the constitution. The leader of the opposition is a responsible post, and if he (Rahul Gandhi) is leading the whole opposition of the country, and the SC pulling up him was unfair. Although I am not commenting on the verdict of the Supreme Court, the government should say how much land we had in 2014 and 2024..."
Earlier in the day, the INDIA bloc criticised the Supreme Court's remarks against Rahul Gandhi, calling it an effort to curb the rights of political parties.
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said that the decision to condemn the apex court's remarks was taken at a meeting of Parliament floor leaders of the INDIA alliance.
"A meeting of the INDIA alliance took place in the office of Mallikarjun Kharge, where discussions took place on SIR, along with the observation made by the Supreme Court on our leader Rahul Gandhi... Opposition's duty is to raise the issues of the country inside and outside the Parliament," Gogoi told reporters.
He said that the INDIA bloc leaders felt the Supreme Court's observation was "very shocking."
"We have come to a decision that a joint press statement must be issued today from the floor leaders of the INDIA alliance, and we have given it saying that the Supreme Court judge made a remark that can be considered as an effort to limit the rights of political parties," he said.
"The remarks are extraordinary and unwarranted. The duty of the leader of the opposition is to raise the issues of the country, and when the ruling party hesitates to answer on the issues related to border security, people have the right to question," Gogoi stated.
Earlier on Monday, the Supreme Court pulled up the Congress leader over his alleged remarks on the Indian army.
A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih expressed disapproval of Gandhi's remarks, saying How does he know the Chinese occupied 2000 square kilometres of land and said that a true Indian wouldn't say such a thing.
Justice Datta said, "How do you get to know that 2000 square kilometres of Indian territory was occupied by China? What is the credible material? If you are a true indian, you would not say this. When there is a conflict across borders... can you say all this?"
The bench also asked senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Rahul Gandhi, why he didn't say all this in Parliament and why on social media. "Whatever you have to say, why don't you say it in the Parliament? Why do you have to say this in the social media posts?" asked Justice Datta.
Rahul Gandhi had made the remarks on December 16, 2022, during his 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'.
He had said, "People will ask about Bharat Jodo Yatra, here and there, Ashok Gahlot and Sachin Pilot and whatnot. But they will not ask a single question about China capturing 2000 square kilometres of Indian territory, "killing 20 Indian soldiers," and "thrashing our soldiers in Arunachal Pradesh."
"But the Indian press doesn't ask a question to them about this. Isn't it true? The nation is watching all this. Don't pretend that people don't know," he added.