Savarkar defamation case: Rahul Gandhi summoned by court on October 23

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been summoned by a special court in Pune on Friday, in connection with a criminal defamation case filed by the grandnephew of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

The court has asked the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha to appear before it in person on October 23, after Satyaki Savarkar lodged a complaint against him for making objectionable remarks about Hindutva icon Savarkar.

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Satyaki Savarkar alleged in his complaint that Rahul Gandhi had made a speech in London in March 2023, claiming that V D Savarkar had written about beating up a Muslim man with his friends in a book. Gandhi had also supposedly said that Savarkar had been happy to carry out the violence.

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Satyaki Savarkar denied that any such incident had taken place or that there was any written record of the incident. He termed Rahul Gandhi's allegations as "fictitious, false, and malicious".

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The court had asked the police to investigate these claims and file a report. An initial probe by the Vishrambaug police station revealed that there was prima facie truth to Savarkar's complaint about Gandhi.

The case was transferred to a special for MPs and MLAs from the judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) court last month. The special court is presided over by the joint civil judge and judicial magistrate (first class) Amol Shinde.

Advocate Sangram Kolhatkar, who represents Satyaki Savarkar, told PTI, that a summons was issued against Gandhi, as his presence was necessary to answer against the defamation charges under section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).