The Supreme Court of India on Monday sharply criticized Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks alleging Chinese occupation of Indian territory, made during his Bharat Jodo Yatra in December 2022. A bench comprising Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih questioned the credibility of Gandhi’s claim that China had occupied 2,000 sq km of Indian land, calling such statements unpatriotic and irresponsible.
“How do you get to know that 2,000 square kilometres of Indian territory was occupied by China? What is the credible material? If you are a true Indian, you would not say this,” remarked Justice Datta, expressing disapproval over the comments made outside Parliament.
The court further asked why Gandhi chose to air these allegations on social media instead of raising them in Parliament.
“Why do you have to say this in social media posts? Why not in Parliament?” the bench asked senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared on Gandhi’s behalf.
While pulling up Gandhi for his remarks, the Supreme Court also stayed further proceedings in the defamation case filed by former Border Roads Organisation (BRO) Director Uday Shankar Srivastava, who accused the Congress MP of defaming the Indian Army. The court also issued a notice to the complainant.
The Allahabad High Court had earlier dismissed Gandhi’s plea challenging the defamation case and the summoning order issued by a Lucknow MP-MLA court in February 2025.
Gandhi, during a public interaction on December 16, 2022, in Rajasthan, had stated that the media avoids questioning the central government about China capturing Indian territory, killing soldiers, and thrashing Indian troops in Arunachal Pradesh, referring to the December 9, 2022, Yangtse clash.
“The press won’t ask a single question about China capturing 2,000 sq km of Indian territory, killing 20 soldiers, and beating up our troops. But they’ll ask about Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot,” Gandhi had said during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Complainant Srivastava argued that Gandhi’s remarks were false, malicious, and aimed at demoralising the Indian Army, stating that in reality, the Indian troops had successfully repelled the Chinese intrusion in the Yangtse sector of Arunachal Pradesh.
“Such baseless claims are an attempt to erode public trust in the armed forces,” Srivastava said in his complaint.
The case now awaits further hearing, pending the Supreme Court’s final decision on the maintainability of the defamation complaint.
