New Delhi: The Allahabad High Court told Rahul Gandhi on June 3 that his request to avoid court in Lucknow was rejected, claiming his words about Chinese soldiers attacking Indian troops in the yatra were harmful to the Army.
During the Bharat Jodo Yatra in 2022, Rahul Gandhi alleged that Chinese soldiers were treating Indian soldiers unfairly in Arunachal, and the Allahabad High Court severely criticised this comment. The court dismissed Gandhi’s appeal, ruling that criticising the Indian Army does not qualify as free speech. On February 18, 2025, the Lucknow court called Gandhi to respond to an allegation in which Prashant Kumar claimed Gandhi had hurt the armed forces’ honour.
Counsel for Gandhi argued that his statement was only about what the government did on the India-China border and should thus be considered a free-speech issue. On June 3, 2025, the High Court decided to deny the plea because it considers statements that discourage soldiers to be unprotected by freedom of speech. Gandhi was informed by legal officials that on July 7, 2025, in Lucknow, he would be called to answer accusations of false statements under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code.
Rahul Gandhi remarks about the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Uttar Pradesh, saying that under Modi’s government, the border violations at Galwan in 2020 and Arunachal Pradesh were ignored. In response to the statement, people were angry and BJP leaders said she shouldn’t have made such remarks and should say sorry.
While overseeing the case, Sanjay Kumar Singh explained that, “False accusations about the Army should not create doubts about the government in the minds of the Many users expressed their opinions on X; some; one stated, “We support our soldiers, and Rahul should too,” while others contended, “He was simply discussing the government’s actions, not criticising the” Army.”
Involved in many legal cases, this new defamation case happens after his conviction last year for making false claims which prevented him from being a parliament member for some time. Afterwards, the Supreme Court reversed that decision. When asked about the ruling, a Congress spokesperson, Supriya Shrinate, decided not to give a statement, as the matter is still in court.
In 2022, the Indian Army said that there were no events of ‘thrashing’ in Arunachal, disproving Gandhi’s claims. Ministry of Defence records state that there were 13 such incursions by the Chinese army in 2022 that were handled through dialogue, and no Indian lives have been lost since the incident at Galwan.
The High Court makes sure that court proceedings with political issues do not damage the respected reputation of the armed forces. Rahul Gandhi’s case in court highlights the disagreement between expressing oneself and not offending the nation, which could affect how he runs in future elections.
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