Allahabad High Court dismisses Rahul Gandhi’s plea challenging summons over Indian Army remarks

The Allahabad High Court, Lucknow Bench, on May 29, 2025, rejected Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s challenge to a summons issued by a Lucknow court over his controversial comments on the Indian Army during the 2022 Bharat Jodo Yatra.

The bench of Justice Subhash Vidyarthi refused to intervene, rejecting Gandhi's petition on merits.

The summoning order had been issued by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Alok Verma, directing the Congress MP to appear before the court on March 24.

A detailed order is expected to be released on June 2, 2025.

At the heart of the controversy are Gandhi’s remarks made on December 16, 2022, in the aftermath of a border clash between Indian and Chinese troops in Arunachal Pradesh. Accusing the government of inaction, Gandhi had alleged that “Chinese soldiers are beating up Indian Army personnel".

Against Gandhi's this remark, a complaint was filed by one Uday Shankar Srivastava, who said that the remark was derogatory towards the army and hurt the sentiments of the armed forces.

Notably, a special MP-MLA court in Varanasi on May 27 dismissed a petition filed against Gandhi over his controversial reference to Lord Ram as a "fictional character" during a speech at a U.S. university last month.

The complaint, filed by Advocate Harishankar Pandey, alleged that Gandhi’s remarks had hurt religious sentiments. However, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Neeraj Kumar Tripathi rejected the plea as “non-maintainable,” citing provisions under Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023.

In another case over Gandhi's statements, the Supreme Court on April 24, 2025, issued notice and stayed the operation of the Allahabad High Court’s order refusing to quash the summons issued to him in a defamation case concerning his remarks against freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

“You have a strong case on law, and you will get a stay. But if there are any further irresponsible statements from him, the Court will be compelled to take up the matter suo motu,” Justice Dipankar Datta had then warned Gandhi during the hearing.

Case Title: Rahul Gandhi vs State of UP and Another