Defamation case: RaGa to appear in Lko court today

Lucknow: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi will appear in Lucknow's MP-MLA special magistrate court Tuesday in a case involving allegedly defamatory statements against the Indian Army made by him during his Bharat Jodo Yatra in Lucknow. On Feb 1, the special court had summoned him as an accused, taking cognizance of a complaint filed in the defamation case.

Rahul's advocate Pranshu Agarwal said after his appearance, bail will be sought from the court. The case was filed by retired BRO director Udai Shanker Srivastava, who alleged that Rahul had made derogatory comments in Lucknow on Dec 16, 2022, days after a face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in Arunachal Pradesh.

Rahul had said, "People will ask about Bharat Jodo Yatra... but they will not ask a single question about China capturing 2,000sqkm of Indian land, killing 20 Indian soldiers, and thrashing our soldiers in Arunachal Pradesh... Don't pretend people don't know."

Srivastava called the remarks "false and baseless", made with an "evil intention of demoralising the Indian Army and damaging public faith". He cited the Army's official Dec 12 statement, which described the Dec 9 clash in Arunachal as involving "minor injuries to a few personnel from both sides". Rahul had earlier filed a petition before HC's Lucknow bench against the summons, but was not granted relief.

His lawyer had argued in HC that the case was politically driven and Srivastava lacked standing under section 199 CrPC, as the Army — not the petitioner — was the target. On May 29, Justice Subhash Vidyarthi rejected the claim, saying Srivastava was an "aggrieved person" under the law.

HC had said Rahul must stand trial, observing a prima facie case exists against him. "Freedom of speech is subject to reasonable restrictions and does not include the freedom to make statements defamatory to any person or to the Indian Army," HC had noted.