Pune Court Issues Process Against Rahul Gandhi In Defamation Case Over Remarks On VD Savarkar

Judicial Magistrate First Class Akshi Jain issued process in the complaint lodged by Satyaki Savarkar, the grandnephew of the late Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Advocate Sangram Kolhatkar for Savarkar told Live Law. The order, passed on May 30, 2024 was issued under Section 204 of the CrPC.

The defamation complaint asserts that Gandhi has repeatedly defamed Savarkar on various occasions over the years. One specific incident highlighted was on March 5, 2023, when Gandhi addressed the Overseas Congress in the United Kingdom.

The complainant has claimed that Gandhi made intentionally wild allegations against Savarkar, knowing them to be untrue, with the intention of harming Savarkar's reputation and causing mental agony to the complainant and his family. The complaint states that the defamatory speech was delivered in England, but its impact was felt in Pune as it was published and circulated throughout India.

Savarkar, in his complaint, has submitted several news reports and a YouTube link to a video of Gandhi's speech in London as evidence. He has claimed that Gandhi falsely accused Savarkar of writing a book in which he described beating up a Muslim person, which Savarkar never wrote and such an incident never happened. Satyaki argued that Gandhi made these false, malicious, and wild allegations with the specific objective of defaming Savarkar and harming his reputation.

The criminal defamation application filed by Satyaki demands maximum punishment for Gandhi under Section 500 (Punishment for defamation) of the IPC and seeks imposition of maximum compensation as per Section 357 (Order to pay compensation) of the CrPC.

The court had recorded the statements of Satyaki and two witnesses and in January 2024 and directed the Pune City police to conduct an inquiry into the defamation complaint as per Section 202, CrPC. The police submitted its inquiry report before the judge on May 27, 2024, following which the judicial magistrate took cognizance of the complaint and issued the process against Gandhi.