‘Everybody is doing it’ is not a defence and certainly not in court. There may be any number of persons riding around on two-wheelers without helmets, but that is not a justification to be offered to the cop when caught doing so. That, however, is among the numerous excuses being offered by members of the Congress after Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in the defamation case involving his comment on persons with the surname Modi.
The day of the verdict was due and it explains Rahul Gandhi’s tirades in meetings abroad alleging that the courts, among other institutions, have been compromised under the present BJP Government. Already, allegations are being made that the judge who has passed the verdict is ‘hands in glove with the BJP’, etc. Unfortunately for Rahul Gandhi, the courts of appeal will have to tie themselves in yogic knots to find the technicality by which he is to be exonerated. The matter was open and shut when he lumped absconding defaulters named Modi with not just the Prime Minister but also all other members of the clan. All it required was someone to take the matter to court.
Another excuse being offered is that ‘he did not intend’ to defame the Modis. A person wanting to make a video clip may let off a firearm during a wedding or other celebration and injure somebody. That he did not ‘intend’ to do so is no defence. It is amazing that the most senior among members of the Congress leadership are offering up such explanations, including practicing lawyers.
Rahul is lucky that the judge before whom he appeared did not take umbrage at the fact that a large crowd had been gathered outside the court as a pressure tactic. Otherwise, he and his cohorts would have been booked under other sections of the IPC. Can any ordinary citizen get away with adopting such tactics? All this is the result of the sense of entitlement that has been inculcated in the Nehru-Gandhi scion during his privileged upbringing and by the pampering of his numerous sycophants. Otherwise, he would have immediately and most humbly apologised after the faux pas. But he believed he did not need to because of his special position in society. The same goes for the comments he has made abroad for which there will be consequences – most especially at election time.
