Rahul Gandhi has requested additional time to respond to a Pune court plea seeking the book he quoted while allegedly defaming V D Savarkar. The court has deferred the hearing to July 3.
A special court in Pune has given more time to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to file his written reply in a defamation case related to his remarks on freedom fighter and Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar.
The case was filed by Satyaki Savarkar, who is the grandnephew of V D Savarkar, over comments Gandhi made during a speech in London on March 5, 2023.
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According to Satyaki, Rahul Gandhi had said in his speech that Savarkar wrote in a book that he and his friends had beaten up a Muslim and felt “delighted” about it.
Satyaki denies this and has said that V D Savarkar never wrote any such thing in any book and that such an incident never took place.
To support his claim, Satyaki filed a defamation complaint against Gandhi. Last month, Satyaki filed an application in court asking Rahul Gandhi to produce the book which he referred to while making the alleged statement.
His plea said,
“The above-mentioned book is necessary for a fair trial. Previously, this court had granted permission to the accused to obtain the book titled ‘Hindutva’ written by Veer Savarkar from the complainant. Hence, on the same grounds and principles, the complainant too should be granted the same relief in the interest of justice and fair trial.”
The case is being heard by special judge Amol Shinde at the MP/MLA court in Pune. Gandhi is expected to file his reply through his lawyer, Milind Pawar, during the next hearing scheduled for July 3.
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Earlier, advocate Milind Pawar had asked the court for copies of two books written by V D Savarkar — “Mazi Janmathep” and “Hindutva” — along with the family tree of Satyaki Savarkar. Satyaki’s lawyer, advocate Sangram Kolhatkar, provided these documents to Pawar in court.
Now, Satyaki has requested the court to ask Gandhi to submit the book he had quoted. However, on Thursday, instead of submitting the reply, Gandhi’s lawyer Pawar filed another application asking for more time to respond.
He said that Rahul Gandhi is currently serving as the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and is busy with important public responsibilities.
Pawar submitted,
“Due to certain unavoidable and unforeseen circumstances, the defence is unable to file say/reply on the said application…”
He further requested the court for more time, stating that Gandhi is occupied with official duties of great importance, and therefore, “reasonable time” should be granted to file a proper and detailed reply.
The court accepted this request and postponed the matter to July 3.
In an earlier hearing, Gandhi had asked the court to provide details of Satyaki’s maternal family tree. It was argued that Satyaki’s mother, Himani Ashok Savarkar, is the daughter of Gopal Godse — who was the brother of Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi.
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However, the court rejected this request, saying that the case had no connection to the maternal side of Satyaki’s family.
The court observed that Satyaki is the grandson of one of V D Savarkar’s brothers, and therefore, the application regarding his maternal family tree was irrelevant.
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