The Supreme Court on August 4, 2025, granted Rahul Gandhi interim relief by staying a criminal defamation case filed over his remarks about India’s border with China. Yet the court did not hold back.

As Justices Dipankar Datta and AG Masih noted, “if you are a true Indian, you would not say this,” raising questions about the responsibility of public figures to speak with accuracy and restraint. The remarks stemmed from Gandhi’s December 2022 comment during his Bharat Jodo Yatra, alleging that China had captured 2,000 sq km of Indian territory and Indian soldiers were being beaten in Arunachal Pradesh claims the court asked him to substantiate.

While granting the stay, the bench reminded Gandhi of his role as Leader of the Opposition and urged him to raise sensitive matters within Parliament rather than on social media: “Say things in Parliament, not on social media”. The complaint was filed by Uday Shankar Srivastava, former director of the Border Roads Organization (BRO), who argued that Gandhi's comments hurt the Indian Army's morale and she was a defamatory. Earlier, the Allahabad High Court had dismissed Gandhi's summons petition, saying that the freedom of expression does not extend to the abnormal comments against the armed forces. The case highlights an important balance: while the legal proceedings are currently postponed, the Supreme Court made it clear that the discussion on national security issues should be only under appropriate process and severity, not through quick comments of social media.