Nashik court summons Rahul Gandhi in defamation case over remarks on Savarkar

Court summons Rahul Gandhi in defamation case for alleged remarks against Hindutva ideologue Savarkar, deemed defamatory by court.

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 Mr. Gandhi on September 27, noting that the "statement made against a patriotic person prima-facie seems to be defamatory." Mr. 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.

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The complainant, who is the director of an NGO, claimed he watched a press conference addressed by Mr. Gandhi in Hingoli and also a speech made by the Congress leader in November 2022.

He alleged that Mr. 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, Mr. Gandhi said "Savarkar is BJP and RSS jin" which was defamatory in nature.