Savarkar defamation case: Pune court grants exemption to Rahul Gandhi, asks him to appear on Jan 10

A special court in Pune on Monday granted Congress president Rahul Gandhi an extension to appear before the court and asked him to remain present on January 10, 2025, in relation to a defamation complaint filed against Gandhi by Satyaki Savarkar, grandnephew of Hindutva icon Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, for allegedly making derogatory references to Savarkar during his speech in London in 2023.

Satyaki in his complaint before the Pune Court stated that Gandhi, in his speech stated that Savarkar had written in a book that he and five to six of his friends once beat up a Muslim man and he (Savarkar) felt happy.

Gandhi’s counsel Advocate Milind Pawar during his submission before the Special MP -MLA court Amol Shinde sought exemption for Gandhi citing that he was busy with the Winter Session in Parliament being the Leader of Opposition (LOP) adding that he would remain present in court on January 10.

The court also directed Advocate Pawar to inform Gandhi to refrain from making statements on Savarkar as the matter was subjudice. Special Judge Shinde had earlier ordered Gandhi to ‘ personally appear ’ in the court on December 2.

Satyaki’s lawyer Advocate Sangram Kolhatkar filed applications seeking a non-bailable warrant against Gandhi and requested the court to take action against the Congress MP according to Indian Penal Code section 174 (Non-attendance in obedience to an order from public servant) for failing to appear before the court.

On October 4, 2024, the court had issued a summons to Gandhi. However, the Rae Bareilly MP skipped the hearing claiming that the summons did not reach him. Following that, the court again issued summons asking Rahul to appear on November 18. But again, Gandhi did not appear and through his lawyer advocate Pawar submitted an “appearance pursis” along with an exemption application stating his inability to appear due to election campaigns in different states during the past two months.

The Vishrambaug police submitted their investigation report in May 2024 which confirmed the presence of factual basis in Satyaki Savarkar’s complaint against Gandhi.

In his petition, Satyaki stated, “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.”

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.