Rahul Gandhi was granted bail by a Nashik court in a defamation case over remarks on V D Savarkar during the 2022 Bharat Jodo Yatra. He appeared via video link and pleaded “not guilty” to the charges.
Mumbai: On July 24, a court in Nashik, Maharashtra, has granted bail to senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, in a defamation case related to his remarks about Hindutva ideologue and freedom fighter V D Savarkar.
The comments were allegedly made during his Bharat Jodo Yatra in 2022.
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Rahul Gandhi appeared before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate R C Narwadia on Thursday through video conferencing. During the proceedings, he formally denied the charges and pleaded “not guilty” to the allegations made against him.
The defamation complaint was filed by Nashik resident Devendra Bhutada, who is also the director of a local NGO.
He was represented in court by his lawyer, advocate Manoj Pingle. The case has been registered under Sections 500 (defamation) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code.
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Following Gandhi’s plea of not guilty, his legal team moved an application requesting bail. The court accepted the request and granted him bail on a surety bond of Rs 15,000.
“The court allowed the plea on a bond of Rs 15,000,”
said advocate Pingle after the hearing.
The complainant has alleged that Rahul Gandhi made derogatory statements about V D Savarkar during a press conference in Hingoli and in a public speech as part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in November 2022.
According to the complaint,
“The speech of the accused along with press statements try to ruin the reputation of the complainant’s idol Swatantryaveer Savarkar and his contribution to the society along with his noble work in the pre-independence period.”
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The complaint further mentioned that Gandhi had said,
“Savarkar prayed for release with folded hands and later on promised to work for the British government.”
These remarks, the complainant argued, had caused damage to Savarkar’s image and legacy.
This is not the only legal trouble faced by the Congress leader on this matter. Rahul Gandhi is also dealing with another defamation case filed in Pune by Savarkar’s grandnephew, who also took objection to similar statements made by him about the late revolutionary leader.
Case Title:
Devendra Bhutada v. Rahul Gandhi
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