'Rahul Gandhi Can't Be Compelled To Be Witness Against Himself' : Court Rejects Plea For Copy Of Book Used For Speech On Savarkar

A Special MP/MLA Court in Pune on Thursday rejected the application seeking copy of the book which was relied by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi while delivering the allegedly defamatory speech against right-wing leader Vinayak Savarkar in London.

Special Judge Amol Shinde while rejecting the application filed by complainant Satyaki Savarkar, observed that Gandhi cannot be compelled to be a witness against himself, since the said book is "incriminating" in nature.

"This Court is of the opinion that an order cannot be passed directing the accused to file the incriminating documents. The documents in question are incriminating in nature and are sought to be produced against the accused. The accused cannot be compelled to be a witness against himself, nor can he be compelled to produce incriminating material against him. Hence, the application filed by the complainant is liable to be rejected and is accordingly rejected," Judge Shinde said in the order.

Agreeing with Gandhi's counsel Milind Pawar, the judge opined that since Satyaki has filed a private complaint, he is required to prove his case beyond a reasonable doubt.

"The accused cannot be compelled to disclose his defense before the commencement of the trial. The accused may produce any relevant documents during the presentation of his defense evidence. If the accused is compelled to produce such evidence prematurely, it would amount to a violation of his fundamental right guaranteed under Article 20(3) of the Constitution of India, which protects against self-incrimination," the judge observed.

The accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty and thus, if the application is allowed, it would cause serious prejudice to the accused's right to a fair trial and his right to defend himself effectively, the court held.

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.