Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday joined his bitter critics " BJP's Subramanian Swamy and AAP's Arvind Kejriwal " in challenging the constitutional validity of Sections 499 and 500 of Indian Penal Code which make defamation a criminal offence punishable with up to two years in jail.
The Congress scion moved the Supreme Court saying the penal provisions had a "chilling effect" on citizens' fundamental right to free speech and it must be scrapped.
He called the provisions a legacy of the colonial era meant to oppress the media and stifle free speech, which was abhorrent to a democratic country. Seeking decriminalization of the defamation law, Rahul said criminalization of free speech in a sovereign democratic republic was not permissible.