A Pune court rejected Satyaki Savarkar’s plea seeking to compel Rahul Gandhi to produce a book cited in his 2023 speech. The court held it would violate Article 20(3) of the Constitution.
Pune: Today, on July 3, a special MP/MLA court in Pune has rejected a request made by Satyaki Savarkar, who had asked the court to order Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to produce a book that he allegedly referred to during a speech made in London in 2023.
This speech, according to Savarkar, contained defamatory remarks against Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
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Satyaki Savarkar, who is the grand-nephew of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, had filed a defamation complaint against Rahul Gandhi.
The issue began after Gandhi allegedly made a comment in a 2023 speech claiming that in one of Savarkar’s books, an incident was described where Savarkar and others assaulted a Muslim man and took pleasure in it.
Gandhi reportedly said that Savarkar had found the act “pleasurable.” However, Satyaki Savarkar denied that any such incident exists in Savarkar’s writings, saying the claim was completely false and defamatory.
To prove his point, Savarkar had filed an application under Section 94 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), asking the court to direct Rahul Gandhi to submit the specific book he had quoted in his speech. However, the court did not agree with this request.
Judicial Magistrate First Class Amol Shinde, who was hearing the case, ruled in favour of Rahul Gandhi.
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He observed that forcing Gandhi to submit the book would go against Article 20(3) of the Constitution of India, which protects an accused person from self-incrimination.
The court said,
“The accused cannot be compelled to produce the document/book sought by the complainant. As per Article 20(3) of the Constitution of India, ‘No person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself.’ Therefore, this Court is of the opinion that an order cannot be passed directing the accused to file the incriminating documents.”
Rahul Gandhi’s lawyer argued that the trial had not started yet and that an accused person cannot be forced to present evidence that could be used against him.
He said the responsibility of proving the case lies with the complainant, not the accused. He also pointed out that compelling Gandhi to submit such a book would be a violation of the fundamental right under Article 20(3).
On the other hand, Satyaki Savarkar told the court that the book was important in proving that Gandhi’s comments were false. He also accused Gandhi’s legal team of trying to delay the trial by making unnecessary arguments.
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But after hearing both parties, the court clearly ruled in favour of Gandhi. The judge said,
“The documents in question are incriminating in nature and are sought to be produced against the accused. The accused cannot be compelled to be a witness against himself, nor can he be compelled to produce incriminating material against him.”
Therefore, the judge dismissed the application.
In this case, Advocate Milind Pawar represented Rahul Gandhi while Advocate Sangram Kolhatkar appeared for Satyaki Savarkar.
Case Title:
Satyaki Savarkar v Rahul Gandhi.
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