Pune court restrains Rahul Gandhi from commenting on unchallenged summons order

In an order passed on Tuesday, a copy of which was made available on Wednesday, Judge Amol Shinde observed

A special MP-MLA court in Pune has barred Congress leader and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi from making any public or procedural comments on a summons order issued against him in a defamation case, as he has not challenged it.

The order further stated that “either the accused has to accept the order or challenge it before the appropriate court. (HT)

In an order passed on Tuesday, a copy of which was made available on Wednesday, Judge Amol Shinde observed:

“If the accused (Rahul Gandhi) has any grievance against the summoning order, he is at liberty to challenge it before the appropriate forum. However, till it is challenged and set aside, he cannot be permitted to cast aspersions on an order that has attained finality due to non-challenge.”

The order further stated that “either the accused has to accept the order or challenge it before the appropriate court. He cannot be allowed to make comments on an unchallenged order that has become final”.

The directive came in response to an application filed on November 27 by complainant Satyaki Savarkar (grandnephew of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar) through his advocate Sangram Kolhatkar under Section 309 Cr.PC. The application objected to certain averments made by Gandhi in his submission, particularly in paragraphs 11 and 13, which the complainant termed as “mudslinging” and casting aspersions on both the complainant and the judiciary.

In paragraph 11, Gandhi had alleged that the complainant had “managed” to obtain the summons. In paragraph 13, he claimed the summons was secured “through overreach rather than lawful proof”. The court found these statements impermissible since Gandhi had never challenged the summons order passed by the predecessor judge after due appreciation of evidence.

Advocate Kolhatkar argued that such remarks amounted to questioning the impartiality of the judicial process and were baseless.

In his reply, Gandhi opposed the application, contending there was no provision in law for a court to seek “explanation” from an accused on statements made in pleadings. He accused the complainant of adopting delaying tactics and prayed that Savarkar be directed to complete his evidence without further adjournments, citing Supreme Court and high court directives for day-to-day trial in cases against sitting MPs/MLAs.

The court rejected a separate application filed by Gandhi seeking denial of any further adjournment to the complainant for recording his chief examination. It held that Savarkar intended to lead further evidence and that completely denying him time would be prejudicial.

Gandhi had alleged that the complainant was deliberately delaying the trial and tendering evidence in a piecemeal manner to fill lacunae.

The defamation complaint was filed by Satyaki Savarkar against Rahul Gandhi over certain remarks made by the Congress leader about Veer Savarkar during the 2022 Bharat Jodo Yatra in Maharashtra. The court had issued process (summons) against Gandhi in 2024, which he has not challenged till date.

The matter is now posted for continuation of the complainant’s evidence.