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Rahul Gandhi gets bail in 2022 defamation case over remarks against Army

Digital Desk: Rahul Gandhi, the Congress MP and Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition, was given major relief on Tuesday by the MP-MLA court in Lucknow. In a defamation case, the court granted him bail.

The case concerns allegedly disparaging comments made about the Indian Army in 2022 during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Gandhi got charged with making defamatory remarks against the Indian Army that were considered offensive and defamatory, specifically regarding a conflict between Indian and Chinese forces on December 9, 2022.

According to Uday Shankar Srivastava, a former director of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), Gandhi made a highly disparaging statement when he claimed that the Indian press would not question the Chinese army's "thrashing" of Indian soldiers in Arunachal Pradesh.

After missing the case's final five hearings, Gandhi made an in-person appearance before Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Alok Verma at the MP-MLA Special Magistrate Court in Lucknow on Tuesday and formally turned himself in.

Rahul Gandhi's lawyer later applied for bail. Advocate Pranshu Agrawal, his attorney, maintained Gandhi's innocence and said no crime had been committed against him.

The complainant's attorney, however, argued that Gandhi's comments undermined the Indian Army's honor and respect and sought to demoralize it, and he urged the court to deny him bail.

The court accepted Gandhi's bail application and granted him release on the condition that he provide his personal bond of Rs 20,000 and two sureties of the same amount. The next hearing in the matter is planned for August 13.

Gandhi was defended in court by Advocates Pranshu Agrawal, Mohd Yasir Abbasi, and Mohammed Samar Ansari.