Rahul Gandhi to appear before MP/MLA court in Lucknow today
Advocate Vivek Tewari had filed the complaint against Rahul Gandhi on behalf of Uday Shankar Srivastava, a former director of the Border Roads Organisation with a rank equivalent to an Army colonel, in January 2023.
Rahul Gandhi's alleged statement was derogatory towards the Army and hurt the sentiments of the armed forces, according to the complainant.
Additional chief judicial magistrate Alok Verma, Lucknow, had earlier directed Rahul Gandhi to appear before the court on March 24, 2025, in the defamation case filed against him.
Gandhi had challenged the additional CJM's order, passed on February 11, 2025, in the high court but did not get relief.
Dismissing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's petition, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court held that the right to freedom of speech and expression does not extend to making defamatory statements against the Indian Army.
Gandhi had challenged the summons by a local court in connection with a case related to his alleged remarks on the Indian Army.
A single-judge bench of Justice Subhash Vidyarthi on June 2, 2025, passed the order, rejecting Rahul Gandhi's petition challenging the additional CJM's order.
'No doubt, Article 19(1) of the Constitution of India guarantees freedom of speech and expression, this freedom is subject to the reasonable restrictions and it does not include the freedom to make statements which are defamatory to any person or defamatory to the Indian Army,' the high court observed.
The high court dismissal of his petition paved the way for Rahul Gandhi to face trial in the lower court.
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