Savarkar defamation case: Complaint against Rahul Gandhi for ‘abstaining from recording his plea'

Indian Express

09-05-2025

A complaint has been filed against Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi before a court in Pune, claiming that he has on multiple occasions wilfully abstained from recording his plea in connection with the case of allegedly defaming freedom fighter and Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar.
The complaint was filed after Gandhi failed to appear at the MP/MLA court in Pune, where special judge Amol Shinde had asked him to remain present on May 9 for recording his plea in the defamation case filed by V D Savarkar's grandnephew Satyaki Savarkar.
'Accordingly, the matter was on board today and posted for recording of Rahul Gandhi's plea. But he deliberately avoided recording his plea and caused hindrance to the progress of the trial. So, we moved a complaint application before the court and have prayed that strict action be initiated against him, seizure of his bail bond be ordered and coercive action be taken to secure his presence,' said advocate Sangram Kolhatkar, who represents Satyaki in the case.
The court has sought a say from Gandhi's lawyer Milind Pawar on the complaint application.
Meanwhile, on Friday, advocate Pawar was shown the video of Gandhi's speech in London on March 5, 2023, in which he allegedly made defamatory remarks against Savarkar. On April 7, Pawar had filed an application, seeking the video, along with a copy of book 'Mazi Janmathep' authored by V D Savarkar among other documents.
On April 25, advocate Kolhatkar had submitted the said video in a pen drive, the book as well as the family tree of Satyaki Savarkar to the MP/MLA court.
Pawar said, 'The video given to us in the pen drive was not playing. There must be some technical problems. So we informed the court about it. The video was played in the court today and given to us.'
Pawar also said he sought an English translation of the book 'Mazi Janmathep' and family tree of Savarkar, along with another book 'Hindutva' authored by Savarkar, all of which were provided to him on Friday.
Pawar submitted before the court that as they received the video, books and other material on Friday, more time be given for filing Gandhi's plea. The court then kept the matter for recording Gandhi's plea on May 28.
On January 10, Gandhi had virtually appeared before the court in Pune. The court had then granted him bail and also allowed his application, seeking a permanent exemption from appearing personally in the court during the trial. The court, however, stated that his counsel should remain present for every hearing of the case.
According to Satyaki, Gandhi had said that Savarkar had written a book in which he stated that he (Savarkar) and five to six of his friends were beating up a Muslim and were 'delighted' about it. Satyaki said V D Savarkar had not written any such book as claimed by Gandhi, nor has such an incident ever happened.
In his petition, Satyaki had stated that Gandhi had intentionally made false, malicious and wild allegations against Savarkar. Satyaki had submitted a few news reports as well as a YouTube link of a video of Gandhi's speech in London as evidence.
As per directions of the court, the Vishrambag police station in Pune conducted an inquiry and submitted a report on May 27 last year stating that Gandhi had allegedly defamed Savarkar in his speech before the Indian diaspora in London in March 2023.