Lucknow, June 5 -- The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has recently held that the right to freedom of speech and expression does not extend to making defamatory statements against the Indian Army.

The high court made the observation while dismissing a petition filed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who had challenged summons by a local court in connection with a case related to his alleged remarks on the Indian Army.

A single judge bench of Justice Subhash Vidyarthi passed the order rejecting Rahul Gandhi's petition.

"No doubt, Article 19(1) 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 whic...