Congress leader Rahul Gandhi (PTI)
MUMBAI: A court in Maharashtra's Nashik district has summoned Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case filed against him for his alleged objectionable remarks against Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Nashik, Deepali Parimal Kaduskar, issued a process (summons/notice) to Gandhi on September 27, noting that the "statement made against a patriotic person prima-facie seems to be defamatory."
Gandhi will have to appear either personally or through his legal representative on the next date of the case, which is yet to be decided.
The complainant, who is the director of an NGO, claimed he watched a press conference addressed by Gandhi in Hingoli and also a speech made by the Congress leader in November 2022.
He alleged that Gandhi, on the two occasions, by his words and visual representations knowingly harmed the reputation of Veer Savarkar and also tried to defame the latter's image in the society.
"The speech of the accused along with press statements try to ruin the reputation of the complainant's idol Swatantryaveer Savarkar and his contribution to the society along with his noble work in the pre-independence period," he said.
According to the complainant, Gandhi said "Savarkar is BJP and RSS jin" which was defamatory in nature.
Gandhi further made the allegations that "with a folding hand Savarkar prayed for release and later on promised to work for the British government", the complainant said.
The court, after considering all the submissions made before it, said, "Considering the record, it appears that the statements made by the accused against a patriotic person prima-facie seem to be defamatory."
There are sufficient grounds to proceed in the case, the magistrate added.
The court then issued the process against Gandhi for offences under Indian Penal Code sections 499 (defamation) and 504 (intentional insult).