New Delhi: The Allahabad High Court had strong words for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on Indian soldiers during his Bharat Jodo Yatra three years ago.
Rejecting the petition filed by Rahul against summons issued by a Lucknow court, the high court said freedom of speech doesn’t mean making defamatory statements against Indian Army.
“No doubt, Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and expression, but this freedom is subject to reasonable restrictions and does not include the freedom to make statements which are defamatory to the Indian Army,” the court said.
A defamation case was filed by former Border Roads Organisation (BRO) Director Uday Shankar Srivastava against the Congress MP for saying Chinese troops are “thrashing Indian soldiers in Arunachal Pradesh”.
“People will ask about Bharat Jodo Yatra, here and there, Ashok Gahlot and Sachin Pilot and whatnot. But they will not ask a single question about China capturing 2000 square kilometres of Indian territory, killing 20 Indian soldiers and thrashing our soldiers in Arunachal Pradesh. But the Indian press doesn’t ask a question to them about this. Isn’t it true? The nation is watching all this. Don’t pretend that people don’t know,” Rahul had said during a press conference in Rajasthan in 2022.
After a trial court issued summons to him, Rahul moved Allahabad High Court seeking the proceedings and the summons to be quashed.
In his plea, Rahul contended that the complainant is not an officer of the Indian Army and, therefore, not an aggrieved person.
The court noted that under Section 199(1) Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC), a person other than the direct victim of an offence can also be considered an “aggrieved person” if they are impacted by the offence.
The court was of the view that the complainant was ‘aggrieved’ by the offence as he is a retired Director of BRO, which is equivalent in rank to a Colonel.