Aug 04, 2025: The Supreme Court has put a stop to defamation proceedings against Rahul Gandhi, a leader of the Congress party, for now. This is because of a complaint regarding his allegedly insulting comments about the Indian Army. The issue is around what Gandhi said at the Bharat Jodo Yatra and his claims that the Chinese Army “thrashing” the Indian Army in December 2022.
While hearing Gandhi’s appeal, Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih made it clear that they had serious doubts about what he said. “How do you know that the Chinese took over 2000 sq km of land? If you are a true Indian, you wouldn’t say that,” the bench said, according to the news agency PTI. The justices also told the Leader of the Opposition to “say things in Parliament, not on social media,” stressing the need for a specific place for these kinds of talks.
Udai Shanker Srivastava from Uttar Pradesh submitted the complaint, saying that Rahul Gandhi made a lot of rude comments regarding the Army during the India-China border stalemate. Gandhi’s lawyers say that the complaint was made in ill faith and for political reasons.
The Supreme Court has sent notifications to both the complainant and the government of Uttar Pradesh, which has put a stop to the trial court’s work. The Allahabad High Court had already turned down Gandhi’s request on May 29, so he went to the Supreme Court to fight the order to appear.
This is a big change in the court battle since the Supreme Court’s involvement gives the Congress leader some temporary reprieve while it looks at the case’s merits.