LUCKNOW: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been summoned by a court here over his alleged defamatory remarks against the army in December 2022 during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Alok Verma fixed March 24 as the date for the next hearing in the case. Gandhi will have to be present in the court.

Earlier, on behalf of Uday Shankar Srivastava, former director of Border Roads Organisation -- a rank equivalent to that of a colonel in the army -- lawyer Vivek Tiwari had filed a defamation complaint against Gandhi.

According to the lawyer, Gandhi made the alleged derogatory comments on December 16, 2022, during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. While talking to some mediapersons, he made the objectionable comments on the clash between the Indian and the Chinese armies on December 9, 2022.

The complainant has alleged that Gandhi's statements were derogatory and defamed the Indian Army, the lawyer said.