New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Monday, rapped Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for his alleged remarks against the Army during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in 2022.
While staying further proceedings in the case against him in an MP-MLA court in Lucknow, the bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice A G Masih made sharp oral observations. Justice Datta questioned Gandhi’s basis for claiming that “2,000 sq km of Indian territory was occupied by China” during the Galwan clash in 2020.
“Were you there? Do you have any credible material? Why do you make these statements without any… If you were a true Indian, you would not say all this,” the Court observed.
The bench also noted that casualties during border conflicts are not unusual and questioned the rationale behind politicising such events.
A criminal defamation complaint was filed by retired defence PRO Uday Shankar Srivastava in Lucknow, alleging that Gandhi’s statements insulted the Indian Army and tarnished its image. The remarks in question were made on December 16, 2022, during the Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Based on this complaint, the MP-MLA court in Lucknow had issued a summons to Gandhi and directed him to appear in person. He complied on July 15, 2025 and was granted bail.
Gandhi had earlier challenged the summons in the Allahabad High Court, arguing that his freedom of speech was being curtailed. On May 29, 2025, the High Court dismissed his plea, stating that freedom of expression does not extend to defaming Constitutional institutions like the Indian Army.
Gandhi then moved a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court, seeking quashing of proceedings against him. While the court stayed the defamation proceedings for now, it did not quash the case. A final decision on whether the case should proceed is pending.