Special court orders Rahul Gandhi to appear personally on Dec 2 in defamation case

In the case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for allegedly defaming freedom fighter and Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, a special court for Members of Parliament, Members of Legislative Assembly (MP/MLAs) in Pune today ordered Gandhi to appear in person on December 2, 2024.

Gandhi is the Lok Sabha's leader of the opposition (LoP) and an MP from Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh.

Savarkar's grandson, Satyaki Savarkar, filed a suit against Rahul Gandhi, MP Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, in April of last year, alleging that Gandhi made derogatory remarks against Savarkar in London on March 5, 2023, Indian Express reported.

The case was transferred to the MP/MLAs court on September 21, 2024. Rahul received a summons from MP/MLAs court special judge Amol Shinde on October 4, 2024, stating that, “Whereas your attendance is necessary to answer to a charge of offence punishable under section 500 of Indian Penal Code, you are hereby required to appear in person (or by pleader, as the case may be)” before the magistrate on October 23, 2024.”

But as the summons did not reach him, Gandhi did not appear. “The court then again issued a summons asking Rahul Gandhi to appear on November 18. This summons was issued to him by post and it was received by him. We submitted the online track report and post receipts to the court showing that the summons has reached Rahul Gandhi,” said Satyaki's lawyer Sangram Kolhatkar.

However, Gandhi did not appear before the court today.

Advocate Milind Pawar informed the court that Rahul Gandhi's office had asked him to appear on his behalf. Even though Pawar hadn't filed a vakalatnama on Rahul Gandhi's behalf, he nonetheless submitted an "appearance pursis" and an exemption plea, asking the court to take it into consideration.

Pawar claimed that although his office had received Gandhi's summons, Rahul was unable to appear in court because he was the Lok Sabha's LoP and had been campaigning in several states over the past two months. Rahul Gandhi would be present at the upcoming hearing, Pawar assured the court.

In a motion submitted to the court, advocate Kolhatkar asked that Rahul Gandhi be issued a non-bailable warrant. He said that Gandhi was convicted by a Gujarat court last year in a defamation case. Rahul Gandhi was ordered to appear before the MP/MLAs court in person on December 2 after both sides were heard.

According to Satyaki, “Rahul Gandhi had in London said that (Vinayak Damodar) Savarkar had written a book in which he stated that he (Savarkar) and five or six of his friends were beating up a Muslim and felt delighted about what was happening. Rahul Gandhi then went on to ask whether this was not a cowardly act… But Savarkar has not written any such book as claimed by Rahul Gandhi, nor has such an incident ever happened.”

In his petition, Satyaki stated, “…He (Gandhi) has intentionally made false, malicious and wild allegations against Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, fully knowing the said allegations to be untrue, with the specific objective of harming the reputation and to defame the surname Savarkar…..”

In support of his complaint, Satyaki included a YouTube link to a video of Gandhi's speech in London along with a few reports.

Satyaki has called for the accused to get the maximum penalty possible under IPC section 500 (punishment for slander), “Maximum compensation may kindly be imposed upon the accused according to section 357 (Order to pay compensation) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC),” he stated in the petition.

In accordance with the court's orders, the Pune City Police's Vishrambag police station investigated the matter and reported on May 27, 2024, that Rahul Gandhi had allegedly defamed Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in his March 2023 speech to the "Indian Diaspora in London.”