A Lucknow court has issued a summons to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi concerning remarks he made about the Indian Army during the 2022 Bharat Jodo Yatra. The court, presided over by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Alok Verma, has scheduled the hearing for March 24.
The legal action stems from a complaint lodged by lawyer Vivek Tiwari on behalf of Uday Shankar Srivastava, a former director of the Border Roads Organisation and a retired Army Colonel. The complaint accuses Gandhi of making derogatory and defamatory comments on December 16, 2022, regarding a clash that occurred between Indian and Chinese armies on December 9, 2022.
Rahul Gandhi’s statement during the yatra, where he alleged that “Chinese soldiers are beating up Indian Army personnel in Arunachal Pradesh,” was intended as criticism of the government’s handling of Chinese actions at the Line of Actual Control. However, this remark has been perceived as disrespectful towards the Indian military and has ignited a significant political controversy.
This legal challenge comes after a period of heightened scrutiny for Gandhi, who had a prior criminal defamation proceeding stayed by the Supreme Court earlier this year. That case involved remarks made against Union Home Minister and former BJP President Amit Shah, where Gandhi had labeled him a murder accused during a speech on March 18, 2018.
