Overview

• The High Court rejected Gandhi’s petition against a February 2025 summons issued by a Lucknow court over his December 2022 Bharat Jodo Yatra remark that Chinese troops were “thrashing” Indian soldiers.
• Justice Subhash Vidyarthi reaffirmed that Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution is subject to reasonable restrictions that bar defamatory statements against the Indian Army.
• The defamation suit was filed by Uday Shankar Srivastava, a retired Border Roads Organisation director with a rank equivalent to an army colonel, who claimed Gandhi’s words injured his personal reputation.
• The court found Srivastava to be an “aggrieved person” under Section 199 of the Criminal Procedure Code, confirming his locus standi to pursue the complaint.
• With the High Court’s decision on May 29, the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate in Lucknow will now proceed to try Gandhi under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code.