SC Stays Defamation Case, Slams Rahul Gandhi Over Army Remarks: "A True Indian Will Not Say This"

The Supreme Court on 4 August, stayed further trial-court proceedings against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the defamation suit arising from his December 2022 statement during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, reported Hindustan Times.

The complainant, retired BRO director Uday Shankar Srivastava, accused Gandhi of defaming the Indian Army by publicly claiming that the Chinese Army had “captured 2,000 sq km of Indian territory,” “killed 20 Indian soldiers,” and “thrashed our jawans in Arunachal Pradesh.”

The Allahabad High Court had earlier refused to quash the trial court’s summons, prompting Gandhi’s appeal.

A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih sharply rebuked his remarks. They questioned, “How did you get to know that 2,000 square kilometres has been captured?” and added, “If you are a true Indian, you will not say all this.”

The court granted police notices and suggested that sensitive remarks be confined to appropriate parliamentary forums. It agreed to examine Gandhi’s procedural objections—including his contention that the summons issued without a hearing violated his rights, and that the complainant lacked “aggrieved” status under defamation law—and said it would hear all objections after three weeks.

Earlier, the ‘Modi surname’ defamation case had led to Gandhi’s conviction in March 2023. He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and disqualified from Lok Sabha—only to have the Supreme Court stay his conviction later that year, reinstating him as an MP. That earlier episode underscored the legal and political implications of defamation law for public figures.

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