A complaint has been lodged against Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a prominent Congress figure, at a Pune court. The complaint claims that Gandhi has repeatedly failed to record his plea in a defamation case related to remarks made about V D Savarkar, a noted freedom fighter and Hindutva ideologue. This legal action follows Gandhi’s absence from the MP/MLA court on May 9, where special judge Amol Shinde had summoned him to present his plea in the case initiated by Satyaki Savarkar, the grandnephew of V D Savarkar.
Advocate Sangram Kolhatkar, representing Satyaki Savarkar, stated that the court had scheduled the plea recording for Gandhi, but he chose to deliberately avoid this requirement, thereby obstructing the trial proceedings. Consequently, a formal complaint was submitted, requesting the court to take stringent action against Gandhi, including the seizure of his bail bond and measures to ensure his appearance.
The court has requested a response from Gandhi’s lawyer, Milind Pawar, regarding this complaint. On Friday, the court demonstrated a video of Gandhi’s controversial speech delivered in London on March 5, 2023, during which he allegedly made defamatory statements about Savarkar. Pawar had previously sought this video and a copy of Savarkar’s book “Mazi Janmathep,” along with other relevant documents.
On April 25, Kolhatkar provided the court with the video on a pen drive, as well as the book and a family tree of the Savarkar lineage. However, Pawar indicated that the video encountered technical issues and did not play initially. This issue was addressed in court, where the video was successfully shown and provided to the defense. Pawar also requested English translations of relevant texts, including “Mazi Janmathep” and another book by Savarkar, “Hindutva,” all of which were received on Friday.
After receiving the video and written materials, Pawar requested additional time to file Gandhi’s plea. The court has rescheduled the plea recording for May 28. On January 10, Gandhi had appeared virtually before the Pune court, which granted him bail and permitted him a permanent exemption from personal appearances during the trial, though his legal counsel was mandated to attend all hearings.
According to Satyaki Savarkar, Gandhi claimed that Savarkar authored a work in which he described an incident involving violence against a Muslim with glee, an assertion that Satyaki denies, stating that such a book does not exist, nor did the described incident ever occur. Satyaki’s petition accuses Gandhi of making false and damaging allegations against his great-uncle, supported by various news articles and a YouTube video link pertaining to Gandhi’s London speech.
In compliance with a court directive, the Vishrambag police in Pune conducted an inquiry and submitted a report on May 27 last year, concluding that Gandhi’s remarks during that speech potentially defamed Savarkar.
Cities: Pune
Tags: Rahul Gandhi, V D Savarkar, defamation case, Pune Court
Original Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/savarkar-defamation-case-complaint-against-rahul-gandhi-for-abstaining-from-recording-his-plea-9993487/
Category: Cities,Pune
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Publish Date: 2025-05-09 22:38:00
