Savarkar defamation case: Pune court seeks transcript of Gandhi’s speech

Pune court seeks transcript of speech made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and a copy of ‘Majhi Janmathep’ to verify a plea by Satyaki Savarkar, grand-nephew of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar

PUNE A Pune court on Thursday sought a transcript of the speech made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and a copy of ‘Majhi Janmathep’ to verify a plea by Satyaki Savarkar, grand-nephew of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

Pune court seeks transcript of speech made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi (in pic) and a copy of ‘Majhi Janmathep’ to verify a plea by Satyaki Savarkar, grand-nephew of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. (HT)

Satyaki had filed a criminal defamation application against Gandhi before the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class Akshi Jain for allegedly making defamatory claims about Savarkar during an event in London.

Savarkar’s lawyer Aniruddha Ganu, said, “The court has issued oral order and asked for submission of speech transcript and a copy of the biography.”

Satyaki, in his plea, stated, “The accused has been repeatedly defaming and abusing late Vinayak Damodar Savarkar on various occasions for over many years. Under the facts and circumstances, the accused, while addressing a gathering of the Overseas Congress in the United Kingdom, which was uploaded by the official channel of the accused on YouTube on March 5, 2023, with the title “Indians abroad are shining examples of our culture of respect|Interaction with Diaspora in London” of duration 17.47 min, has intentionally made false, malicious and wild allegations against Savarkar, fully knowing the said allegations to be untrue, with the specific objective of harming the reputation and to defame the surname Savarkar and to hurt the feelings of the family of Late Savarkar.

In view of the above, Satyaki said that Gandhi be summoned and tried in accordance with the law; maximum punishment, as contemplated u/s. 500 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, may be imposed on him, maximum compensation may kindly be awarded imposed upon the accused according to Section 357 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and the complainant be permitted to alter, amend the complaint if needed and also liberty be granted to lead additional evidence during the commencement of the trial stage.

The complaint has been filed under sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) 1860.