Lucknow court grants bail to Rahul Gandhi in case over remarks about Indian Army

A court in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow granted bail to Leader of Oppostion Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case lodged against him over his remarks about the Indian Army during the 2022 Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Alok Verma granted bail to Gandhi subject to the condition that he furnishes a personal bond of ₹20,000 along with two sureties of the same amount.

The matter will be heard next on August 13.

Gandhi appeared before the trial court after the Allahabad High Court rejected his plea against a summoning order.

The complaint against Gandhi was filed by lawyer Vivek Tiwari on behalf of Uday Shankar Srivastava, a former director of the Border Roads Organisation with a rank equivalent to an Army Colonel.

Tiwari alleged that Gandhi’s remarks on December 16, 2022 regarding the clashes between the Indian and Chinese armies were derogatory and defamatory towards the Indian military forces.

Gandhi had said that "Chinese soldiers are beating up Indian Army personnel in Arunachal Pradesh" — a criticism directed at the government over Chinese actions at the Line of Actual Control.

There have been a slew of petitions filed against Gandhi by political rivals and others in various courts across the country.

In January this year, the Supreme Court had stayed criminal defamation proceedings against Gandhi booked for calling Union Home Minister and former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah a murder accused.

The case arose after BJP leader Navin Jha filed a complaint against Gandhi, alleging that Gandhi delivered a speech on March 18, 2018 criticising the BJP and accusing Shah of being involved in murder.

Recently, the Supreme Court had pulled up Gandhi for saying that Hindutva idealogue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was a collaborator with the British who received pension from the British.

Advocates Pranshu Agrawal, Mohd Yasir Abbasi and Mohammed Samar Ansari appeared for Gandhi.