Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, while rejecting a plea of Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi recently, said freedom of speech and expression is subject to reasonable restrictions and it does not include the freedom to make statements which are defamatory to any person or defamatory to the Indian Army.
Gandhi moved the High Court challenging an order of a Lucknow court summoning him to face trial for the alleged offence under section 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and seeking quashing of the entire proceedings of the complaint case lodged by Udai Shankar Srivastava against him over his remarks during “Bharat Jodo Yatra” in 2022.
What did the High Court say?
“No doubt, Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India guarantees freedom of speech and expression, this freedom is subject to the reasonable restrictions and it does not include the freedom to make statements which are defamatory to any person or defamatory to the Indian Army,” Justice Subhash Vidyarthi said while denying relief to Gandhi.
What did the complainant say?
The complainant, a former Director of the Border Roads Organization, lodged a complaint against Gandhi over his remarks made during his “Bharat Jodo Yatra”. The complainant has said that any disrespectful comment against the Indian Army made with the object of demoralizing the Indian Army and portraying its achievements in a demeaning manner, amount to an insult of the Indian Army as well of as of the entire nation.
Gandhi’s statement is false and baseless and was given with an evil intention of demoralizing Indian Army: Complainant
The complainant has stated that Gandhi’s alleged statement that the Chinese army is thrashing our soldiers in Arunachal Pradesh and the Indian Press will not ask any question in this regard is false and baseless and it was given with an evil intention of demoralizing the Indian Army and to damage the faith of the Indian population on the Indian Army. He has further said that any disrespectful comment against the Indian Army made with the object of demoralizing the Indian Army and portraying its achievements in a demeaning manner, amount to an insult of the Indian Army as well of as of the entire nation.
What did Gandhi say?
As per the complaint, Gandhi stated on December 16, 2022 during his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in presence of media persons and a large gathering of public regarding a face-off that took place between the Indian Army and the Chinese Army at the border of India in Arunachal Pradesh on December 9, 2022 that “People will ask about Bharat Jodo Yatra, here and there, Ashok Gahlot and Sachin Pilot and what not. But they will not ask a single question about China capturing 2000 square kilometers of Indian territory, killing 20 Indian soldiers and thrashing our soldiers in Arunachal Pradesh. But the Indian press doesn’t ask a question to them about this. Isn’t it true? The nation is watching all this. Don’t pretend that people don’t know.”
Lucknow trial court passed an order on February 11 summoning Gandhi to face trial
The trial court on February 11 passed an order stating that prima facie Gandhi’s statement appears to be resulting in demoralizing the Indian Army and persons attached to it and their family members and it appears that a case for trial for the offence of defamation is made out and summoned the Congress leader to face trial for the offence under section 500 of IPC.
The High Court said that the trial court has rightly arrived at the decision to summon Gandhi to face trial for the offence under section 500 of IPC after taking into consideration all the relevant facts and circumstances of the case. It further said that Gandhi while talking to the media correspondents had a clear intention and message to the persons present that his statement be published in newspaper and magazines and therefore, the facts of the case do not make out a case for quashing of the summoning order and the proceedings. It also rejected Gandhi’s arguments that the complainant is not a person aggrieved and he has no locus standi to file the complaint.
