[Savarkar Defamation Case] Pune Court Directs Rahul Gandhi To Appear On August 19

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Judicial magistrate Akshi Jain issued the order, with the next hearing set for August 19, 2024. The order specified the stage as “appearance,” and it remains unclear whether Gandhi must appear in person or through legal representation.

[Savarkar Defamation Case] Pune Court Directs Rahul Gandhi to Appear On August 19

Pune, Maharashtra: On May 30, a court in Pune issued an order directing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to appear in response to a defamation complaint filed by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s grandnephew, Satyaki Savarkar. The complaint alleges that Gandhi defamed the Hindutva ideologue in a 2023 speech in London.

Judicial magistrate Akshi Jain issued the order, with the next hearing set for August 19, 2024. The order specified the stage as “appearance,” and it remains unclear whether Gandhi must appear in person or through legal representation.

The complaint, supported by a report from Pune police, accuses Gandhi of falsely claiming that V. D. Savarkar wrote in a book about an incident where he and his friends beat up a Muslim man, which Savarkar reportedly described as making him happy.

Satyaki Savarkar asserts that no such incident occurred and that V. D. Savarkar never wrote any such account.

“Considering the inquiry report submitted by the police and the statements of the witnesses, the JMFC court has ordered Rahul Gandhi to appear before it on August 19,” stated advocate Sangram Kolhatkar, representing Satyaki Savarkar, the complainant.

According to Satyaki, Rahul Gandhi stated in London that (Vinayak Damodar) Savarkar had written a book describing an incident where he and five or six friends were beating up a Muslim man and felt delighted about it.

“Rahul Gandhi then questioned if this was not a cowardly act… But Savarkar has not written any such book, nor did such an incident ever occur. Hence, I filed a defamation case against Rahul Gandhi in a Pune court,” he said.

In his petition, Satyaki asserted,

“Gandhi has intentionally made false, malicious, and wild allegations against Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, fully knowing these allegations to be untrue, with the specific objective of harming his reputation and defaming the Savarkar name.”

In his criminal defamation application, Satyaki demanded the maximum punishment for the accused under section 500 (Punishment for defamation) of the Indian Penal Code. He also requested that maximum compensation be imposed upon the accused according to section 357 (Order to pay compensation) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

After recording statements from Satyaki and two witnesses, the JMFC court in January 2024 directed the Pune City police to conduct an inquiry into the defamation complaint as per section 202 of the CrPC and submit their report by February 23.

The Vishrambag police station in Pune then initiated an inquiry.

However, the police requested more time from the court to complete the inquiry. On April 2, 2024, they informed the court in writing that it was not possible to conduct further inquiry as YouTube had not provided information (profile, IP address, email, etc.) regarding the video of Rahul Gandhi’s speech, despite repeated requests.

The court granted more time to the police. Consequently, during the next hearing on May 27, the inquiry report signed by assistant police inspector Tukaram Nimbalkar of the Vishrambag police station was submitted to the JMFC court. The report concluded that Rahul Gandhi defamed Vinayak Savarkar during his speech in London by making statements that were not written by Savarkar in any of his books.