Rahul Gandhi Summoned Over Alleged Defamation of Savarkar

A Pune court has directed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to appear in a defamation case filed by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar's grandnephew, accusing Gandhi of making false claims about Savarkar in a 2023 London speech. The court has scheduled the next hearing for August 2024 to discuss Gandhi's required appearance.

A court here on Thursday issued an order directing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to appear before it in a complaint filed by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar's grandnephew accusing him of defaming the Hindutva ideologue, the petitioner's lawyer claimed. While Gandhi was not represented by any lawyer during the hearing, the detailed order was yet to be made available.

The order was passed by judicial magistrate (first class) Akshi Jain.

It came two days after Pune police stated in a report that there was prima facie truth in the complaint filed Satyaki Savarkar who alleged that the Congress leader defamed the late freedom fighter in a speech made in London in 2023.

The order stated that the next hearing would be on August 19, 2024, and the stage was ''appearance''. Advocate Sangram Kolhatkar, lawyer of Satyaki Savarkar, claimed that the judge had asked Gandhi to appear before the court on that date. It was not clear immediately if the Congress leader was expected to be present, or can appear through his lawyer.

As per the complaint, Rahul Gandhi claimed in his speech that V D Savarkar had written in a book that he and his friends once beat up a Muslim man, and Savarkar felt happy.

Satyaki Savarkar claimed that no such incident had ever taken place, and V D Savarkar never wrote any such thing anywhere. He filed a complaint under Indian Penal Code sections 499 and 500 (defamation), following which the court asked the Vishrambaug police station to verify the proof submitted by Satyaki Savarkar and submit a report.

As per advocate Kolhatkar, the police stated in their report, submitted on Monday, that V D Savarkar was not found to have written about any such incident anywhere, and yet Rahul Gandhi made the claim in his speech.

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