Defamation case: Pune court dismisses Rahul Gandhi’s plea seeking details on Savarkar grand-nephew’s maternal lineage

Meanwhile, the court also rejected Satyaki Savarkar’s application seeking cancellation of Gandhi’s bail, stating that the grounds cited were not sufficient to warrant such action

A special court in Pune on Saturday dismissed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s plea seeking details of the maternal lineage of Satyaki Savarkar, the grand-nephew of VD Savarkar, stating that the issue is not relevant to the ongoing defamation case.

The judge noted that Gandhi had been granted bail with a permanent exemption from personal appearance and there was no evidence to suggest that he was deliberately delaying the proceedings. (HT)

Gandhi’s advocate, Milind Pawar, had moved an application on May 28, arguing that the complainant, Satyaki, had deliberately failed to disclose that Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar was related to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin, Nathuram Godse. Pawar contended this omission was significant in the ongoing criminal defamation case filed by Satyaki against Gandhi.

Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Amol Shinde dismissed the application, observing that the case pertains to an alleged defamatory speech made by Gandhi in London and not to the family tree of late Himani Ashok Savarkar, the mother of Satyaki Savarkar.

“The family tree of the late Himani Savarkar is not in dispute in this case. Therefore, the application lacks merit and is liable to be rejected. There is no need for further investigation,” the court said.

Himani Savarkar was the daughter of Gopal Vinayak Godse, the younger brother of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse. Gandhi, through his counsel Pawar, had submitted that while the complainant had provided details of his paternal ancestry while filing the complaint, his maternal lineage had not been disclosed.

Meanwhile, the court also rejected Satyaki Savarkar’s application seeking cancellation of Gandhi’s bail, stating that the grounds cited were not sufficient to warrant such action.

Savarkar had alleged in his plea that the case has already posted for the recording of a plea of the accused since January 10, 2025, but the latter is not recording his plea on one pretext or another and adopting delaying tactics.

The judge noted that Gandhi had been granted bail with a permanent exemption from personal appearance and there was no evidence to suggest that he was deliberately delaying the proceedings.

“It is not found that the accused is prolonging the matter. The grounds mentioned in the application are not justified to take strict action against the accused. Hence, the application is liable to be rejected,” the order stated.

Satyaki Savarkar had filed a defamation complaint against Gandhi over his speech in London in March 2023, wherein the Congress leader allegedly claimed that VD Savarkar had written in a book that he and a group of friends once beat up a Muslim man and that Savarkar felt happy about it.

(With Agency Inputs)