'Defamatory' remarks on Indian Army: Lucknow court grants bail to Rahul Gandhi

Lucknow: Former Congress president and leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was on Tuesday granted bail by an MP/MLA Court here in a case pertaining to his alleged ‘defamatory’ remarks on the Indian Army with regard to the clashes between Indian and Chinese soldiers in Arunachal Pradesh in 2020.

Additional chief judicial magistrate Alok Verma granted bail to Rahul on a personal bond of Rs 20 thousand and two sureties of the like amount while fixing August 13 as the next date of hearing.

Rahul had not appeared in the matter before the court on five hearings held earlier.

The complainant has contended that Rahul, during his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in 2022 had made derogatory statements about the Indian Army.

According to the complainant, while referring to the skirmishes on the border, Rahul had said that the Indian press did not ask questions about the ‘thrashing’ of the Indian soldiers by the Chinese in Arunachal Pradesh.

The complainant, former director of the Border Road Organisation Uday Shankar Srivastava, said in his complaint that Rahul’s remarks had hurt his feelings.

Earlier the Allahabad High Court had dismissed Rahul’s petition challenging the issuance of summons by the Lucknow court and sought quashing of the charges.

Rahul, who spent around one hour in the court, was accorded a rousing reception by the Congress workers upon his arrival here on Tuesday.

The Congress leader was likely to meet the family of the man, who drowned in a nullah in the town amid heavy rains a few days back.