The Allahabad High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi challenging the summons issued by a Lucknow court in a defamation case related to his remarks about the Indian Army in 2022, Bar and Bench reported.

The leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha had challenged the summons issued by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Alok Verma in February and the complaint filed against him on the grounds that it was motivated and lodged in a mala fide manner, The Times of India reported.

Justice Subhash Vidyarthi on Thursday rejected the plea on merits, according to Bar and Bench.

The detailed order of the judgement will be released on June 2, the Hindustan Times reported.

Gandhi made the comments on December 16, 2022, about a clash between the Indian and Chinese armies along the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang. The two sides had confronted each other with melee weapons on December 9, 2022, leading to injuries in both sides.

Gandhi’s remarks about the violence were made during the Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra, a march from Kanyakumari to Kashmir against the allegedly divisive policies of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

A former director of the Border Roads Organisation, Uday Shankar Srivastava, filed a defamation complaint against Gandhi. His lawyer claimed that the Congress leader’s statements were derogatory and defamed the Indian Army.

With the High Court dismissing his petition, the Congress leader will face a trial in the Lucknow court.