After Rahul Gandhi has endured a setback with a ruling of Gujarat High Court that refused to stay his conviction in a criminal defamation case that revoked his Lok Sabha membership, the Congress party has responded to the verdict and said that the court's directive of refusing to stay Gandhi's conviction is illegally wrong. 

As the next step to fight the setback for the Congress leader, the party has announced that it will move an appeal to the Supreme Court to challenge the verdict from the Gujarat High Court. The party has also alleged that the BJP regime is finding newer techniques to throttle the freedom of speech in the country and throttle the voice of Rahul Gandhi for speaking the truth. 

By citing that the party will fight the battle both legally and politically, it has said that the verdict was not unexpected. Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Congress spokesperson and Rahul Gandhi's counsel in the case Abhishek Singhvi said that the dismissal of the plea is 'disappointing, but not unexpected' Singhvi further said that the party had to wait for 66 days for the judgment to be delivered and asserted that an appeal will be filed very shortly in the apex court. 

Singhvi said that the ultimate court is the court of the people and they see what's happening. "We have full faith in the judiciary and in particular in the apex court where we are now proceeding. We have no doubt that this intersection of arrogance and infallibility shown by this government of the day and the ruling party of the day will be dealt with properly in the Supreme Court", he added. 

He further said that this is not just about Rahul Gandhi or any particular person, as it is about free speech and expression. He stated, "The aim of this government is to control the freedom of expression and that is why the law of defamation has been misused in this case. This is part of a bigger conspiracy to put an end to independent speech and expression and throttle such thougths by anyone." 

"The more they have attempted to silence him (Rahul Gandhi), through harassment by the ED and CBI, the breach of privilege notices, the petty removal of SPG (Special Protection Group) security to the disqualification from Parliament, he remains unmoved and that is what exposes their fear", Singhvi added. Several Congress leaders have also responded to the verdict and alleged that the party is not afraid of BJP's political conspiracy. 

Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge took to Twitter and wrote, "The country is now well aware of Modi ji's double standards on corruption. None of the Congress leaders, workers are afraid of his political conspiracy. We will fight both the political and the legal battle." Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said her brother Rahul Gandhi is fighting the battle for truth and people's interests and an arrogant regime is using all the tricks to deter him.

Veteran Congress leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram has alleged that the whole purpose of the defamation case was to disqualify Rahul Gandhi from Parliament. According to reports, the Congress party will most likely make an appeal to the Supreme Court against Gujarat High Court verdict the upcoming Parliament session, which will commence on July 20. 

Must-read: Another setback for Rahul Gandhi: Why the Gujarat High Court refused to stay his conviction?