logo
Savarkar defamation case: Lawyer withdraws plea claiming 'threat' to Rahul Gandhi

Savarkar defamation case: Lawyer withdraws plea claiming 'threat' to Rahul Gandhi

PUNE: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's lawyer on Thursday withdrew from a Pune court the plea claiming apprehension of threat to the parliamentarian from followers of Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
The lawyer, Milind Pawar, said the court has accepted withdrawal of the plea.
Earlier on Wednesday, hours after filing the plea, the lawyer said it was filed without Gandhi's consent and would be withdrawn.
Pawar is representing Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case filed by Satyaki Savarkar, grand-nephew of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, over certain statements made by the Congress leader against the late freedom fighter and Hindutva ideologue.
He drafted the application without consulting Gandhi and the latter has taken a "strong exception to the filing of this Pursis and expressed his disagreement with its contents", the lawyer said in a press release late Wednesday evening.
The application filed by Pawar earlier on Wednesday said complainant Satyaki Savarkar had admitted that he is also a direct descendant, through maternal lineage, of Nathuram Godse and Gopal Godse, principal accused in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

What are the challenges confronting the EC?
What are the challenges confronting the EC?

The Hindu

timean hour ago

  • The Hindu

What are the challenges confronting the EC?

The story so far: At a press conference on August 7, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi accused the Election Commission (EC) of massive electoral roll manipulations in Mahadevapura Assembly constituency in Karnataka. Mr. Gandhi's presser capped a series of allegations of deliberate voter roll discrepancies by the EC beginning with the Maharashtra Assembly polls. This, coupled with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, which is under judicial scrutiny, has put the poll body in the eye of a storm. What is the mandate of the EC? The Election Commission of India is a permanent constitutional body. The Constitution has vested in the EC the superintendence, direction and control of the entire process for conduct of elections to Parliament and the legislature of every State, and to the offices of President and Vice-President of India. Originally, the commission only had a Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). It was expanded to include two Election Commissioners (ECs). Why has there been a controversy about the appointment process? Parliament passed a new law governing appointments to the EC, namely the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023. In accordance with the new law, the ECs are selected by a three-member selection committee, comprising the Prime Minister, a Union Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. The Opposition had objected to this, saying the committee gave little room for dissent as the Prime Minister and the Union Minister are part of the government and could rule 2:1 in favour of their candidate. Why is the EC's role in the spotlight? Last year, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance had alleged that lakhs of new voters had been added to Maharashtra's electoral rolls in the time period between the Lok Sabha polls in May and the Assembly elections in October. The Congress had made the same allegations about Haryana, and later the Aam Aadmi Party alleged that voter rolls were tweaked in Delhi before Assembly polls. Even as the EC was grappling with these claims, CEC Gyanesh Kumar announced the SIR in Bihar which aims at cleaning up electoral rolls. The EC said the SIR exercise will be carried out across the country. At his press conference, Mr. Gandhi alleged large-scale discrepancies in the Mahadevapura Assembly segment under the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka which he claimed helped the BJP win the seat. Mr. Gandhi said his party had carried out an investigation which spanned over six months before reaching this conclusion. He claimed that the voter list had manipulated entries, including duplicate voters, invalid addresses, and bulk registrations of votes at single locations. Following this, Mr. Gandhi reiterated his demand for machine readable voter rolls to be provided to all political parties for proper verification. The EC stated it has not been providing machine readable or 'text-searchable' voter lists for concerns over cyber-security. The Supreme Court (SC) had upheld it in a petition filed by former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath in 2018. When was a revision announced in Bihar? On June 24, the EC ordered a SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar, barely five months before the Assembly elections. As per the SIR orders, every voter in Bihar who had not been listed in the 2003 voter rolls would have to submit documents proving their date and place of birth to determine whether they were Indian citizens. Those born after 1987 would also have to submit proof of their parents' date and place of birth. However, after the completion of the first phase of the SIR exercise, the EC released a draft electoral roll on August 1, which saw a drop in the number of voters in Bihar by 65 lakh. There were 7.89 crore voters registered in the 2025 electoral list before the SIR exercise; after the recount, it slid to 7.24 crore electors. The EC said that most of these 65 lakh 'missing' voters have died; are registered in two locations; have migrated out of Bihar; or are untraceable. Civil society organisations, Opposition parties as well as NGOs approached the Supreme Court challenging the SIR process. What has the SC directed EC to do? In an interim order on August 14, the Supreme Court directed the EC to publish an enumerated, booth-wise list of the 65 lakh electors not included in the draft roll. A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi instructed the EC to provide reasons for the deletion — death, migration, untraceability, duplicate registrations — against each name. The court also asked EC to accept Aadhaar as proof of identity for an elector to include his or her name in the rolls. 'That it has taken the Supreme Court to nudge the EC towards following basic norms of natural justice and fairness in the Bihar SIR exercise reflects poorly on an organisation which takes pride in collecting and counting every last vote. While errors can creep into voter lists over time, the answer to that is not mass disenfranchisement as the EC is attempting,' said Alok Kumar Prasanna, Advocate and Co-Founder of Vidhi Centre for Public Policy. What about migrant voters? Migrant voters still have to return to the place where they are on the rolls to vote. This is a huge cost and depresses turnout, notes Mr. Prasanna. 'There is no simple solution to this currently. The solution will have to be cheap, secure and transparent to work. Solutions which work in richer societies and for richer migrants will not work for poor migrants from States like Bihar,' he added. What has been the political fallout? After Mr. Gandhi's press conference, the Opposition upped the ante and tried to hold a march from Parliament to the Election Commission headquarters. They courted arrest when stopped. The ongoing monsoon session of Parliament has also been virtually paralysed over demands for a discussion on the Bihar SIR. The government has, however, not conceded to the Opposition's demand. The issue has brought Opposition parties together and protests are likely to continue when Parliament reconvenes on August 18. 'To protect the voters of this country and democracy whatever has to be done we will do,' Rashtriya Janata Dal Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha told The Hindu.

PM to inaugurate projects worth ₹11,000 crore to boost Delhi's connectivity today
PM to inaugurate projects worth ₹11,000 crore to boost Delhi's connectivity today

The Hindu

time2 hours ago

  • The Hindu

PM to inaugurate projects worth ₹11,000 crore to boost Delhi's connectivity today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate two major national highway projects worth ₹11,000 crore in Rohini on Sunday. The projects — the Urban Extension Road-II (UER-II) and the Delhi section of the Dwarka Expressway — aim to decongest the Capital and improve connectivity, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta termed UER-II a 'historic gift' for the city and said that it would not only move Delhi closer to becoming traffic-free but also strengthen connectivity across the National Capital Region. Ms. Gupta inspected the venue in Rohini Sector 37, where the inauguration is scheduled to take place. She said the UER-II would reduce the travel time from the Singhu border, which connects Delhi with Haryana, to the IGI Airport from two hours to around 40 minutes. Meanwhile, the Congress hit out at the BJP-led Centre over the 'high' toll tax on the UER-II. Delhi Congress spokesperson Naresh Kumar claimed that the toll tax in Delhi is higher than in the neighbouring States of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. He demanded a reduction of toll charges by at least 50%.

Campaigns pick up pace as DUSU polls draw closer
Campaigns pick up pace as DUSU polls draw closer

The Hindu

time2 hours ago

  • The Hindu

Campaigns pick up pace as DUSU polls draw closer

NEW DELHI As the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections, scheduled for September 18, draw closer, campaigning has gained momentum across the North Campus. Student organisations are not only finalising candidates but also framing their agendas, ranging from menstrual leave and metro fare concessions to academic freedom and infrastructure reforms. Varun Choudhary, national president of the Congress-affiliated National Students' Union of India (NSUI), which currently heads the central panel, said, 'We have shortlisted around 15-16 candidates and are working on our pre-campaign efforts'. Mr. Choudhary said they will raise 'social justice issues' such as the university 'defying' reservation rules in admissions and recruitment. According to him, NSUI is also prioritising demands related to crumbling infrastructure and the delays caused by the Common University Entrance Test (CUET). Last week, the organisation staged protests demanding 12 days of menstrual leave per semester for women students, which is among their key campaign points. Bond clause The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) began campaigning as soon as the new academic session started. Its main concern has been the clause that requires students to sign a ₹1 lakh bond to contest elections. The amount will be forfeited if they are found violating defacement rules. 'We have raised the issue with the administration and have been assured that this clause will be revoked,' said Harsh Attri, ABVP's national media convener. The new poll guidelines, introduced last week, also prohibit the use of loudspeakers and vehicles, besides defacement. These restrictions came after the Delhi High Court halted the elections last year over widespread defacement. University officials have said they are considering alternatives to the bond clause after protests by multiple organisations. Currently, the central panel includes two post holders from ABVP and NSUI, with the president from NSUI. 'Alternative politics' Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) recently rebranded Association of Students for Alternative Politics (ASAP) is seeking to break the NSUI-ABVP dominance by offering what it calls 'clean politics'. On Friday, AAP Delhi State president Saurabh Bharadwaj announced that ASAP will support students from ordinary backgrounds, regardless of their political affiliations. In a statement, ASAP said, 'ASAP's mission is to strengthen democracy from the grassroots through alternative politics, ensuring students choose clean politics over money and muscle power.' Earlier this week, ASAP also demanded a 50% metro concession for students, citing rising living and education costs. Meanwhile, Left outfits All India Students' Association (AISA) and Students' Federation of India (SFI) are exploring an alliance. AISA Delhi State president Abhigyan said, 'We will fight for academic integrity, and one of the major issues is that under NEP 2020, Value Added Courses and Skill Enhancement Courses form a core of the credits. This has diluted academics in the university, and they don't add much value.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store