LUCKNOW: Asserting that freedom of speech and expression was a subject to reasonable restrictions and it did not include the freedom to make statements defamatory to any person or defamatory to the Indian Army , the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad HC, on May 29, dismissed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s plea challenging a lower court summons in a defamation case over alleged derogatory remarks about the Indian Army during his Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Single judge bench, comprising Justice Subhash Vidyarthi, observed that material on record made a prima facie case against Rahul Gandhi for making defamatory statement against Indian Army and hence the summoning order of lower court could not be set aside and he has to stand on trial.
The case pertains to a complaint filed by Uday Shanker Srivastava, ex-Director, Border Roads Organisation (a position equivalent to a Colonel in the Indian Army). Srivastava alleged that on Rahul Gandhi, during his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ made disparaging comments about a face-off between the Indian and Chinese armies in Arunachal Pradesh.