Savarkar Defamation Case : Plaintiff Seeks Copy Of Book Relied Upon By Rahul Gandhi While Delivering Speech

A special MP/MLA court in Pune on Thursday granted time to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to respond to an application filed by Satyaki Savarkar, who has sought copy of the book relied by him (Gandhi) while delivering the allegedly defamatory speech against Hindu Mahasabha leader Vinayak Savarkar.

Special Judge Amol Shinde granted time till July 3 for Gandhi to file his detailed response to the application. 

Confirming the development, advocate Milind Pawar, who represents Gandhi in the case, said, "We filed a short reply running into four pages, pointing out that the complainant Satyaki has wrongly invoked section 93 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) for seeking the copy of the book. We have said that the BNSS was not even enforced at the time when the instant case was initiated and thus, the complainant has tried to mislead the court."

Pawar added that, due to some 'unforeseen' circumstances, Gandhi, who is also the Leader of Opposition Party (LOP), could not file his say in the case. 

"My client has thus sought time to file a detailed response since the complainant claims that this book is necessary for a fair trial," the counsel said. 

In the application, Satyaki through his advocate Sangram Kolhatkar contended that this book, which was relied upon by Gandhi in his speech, is necessary and thus a copy of the same must be furnished to him. The complainant, also pointed out that in the previous hearing, the court had allowed an application filed by Gandhi, who had sought the copies of two books - "Majhi Janmathep" (My Life Sentence) and "Hindutva" - authored by Savarkar.

Background:

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 - Satyaki Savarkar (grand nephew of VD Savarkar) 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.

Satyaki, 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.

Earlier, the Court had allowed Gandhi's application to convert the case as summons trial from summary trial in order to bring historical evidence on record.