Mumbai: A court docket in Maharashtra’s Nashik district has summoned Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case filed in opposition to him for his alleged objectionable remarks in opposition to Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
Extra Chief Judicial Justice of the Peace, Nashik, Deepali Parimal Kaduskar, issued a course of (summons/discover) to Gandhi on September 27, noting that the “assertion made in opposition to a patriotic particular person prima-facie appears to be defamatory.”
Gandhi must seem both personally or by his authorized consultant on the following date of the case, which is but to be determined.
The complainant, who’s the director of an NGO, claimed he watched a press convention addressed by Gandhi in Hingoli and likewise a speech made by the Congress chief in November 2022.
He alleged that Gandhi, on the 2 events, by his phrases and visible representations knowingly harmed the status of Veer Savarkar and likewise tried to defame the latter’s picture within the society.
“The speech of the accused together with press statements attempt to wreck the status of the complainant’s idol Swatantryaveer Savarkar and his contribution to the society alongside together with his noble work within the pre-independence interval,” he mentioned.
In keeping with the complainant, Gandhi mentioned “Savarkar is BJP and RSS jin” which was defamatory in nature.
Gandhi additional made the allegations that “with a folding hand Savarkar prayed for launch and afterward promised to work for the British authorities”, the complainant mentioned.
The court docket, after contemplating all of the submissions made earlier than it, mentioned, “Contemplating the file, it seems that the statements made by the accused in opposition to a patriotic particular person prima-facie appear to be defamatory.”
There are enough grounds to proceed within the case, the Justice of the Peace added.
The court docket then issued the method in opposition to Gandhi for offences below Indian Penal Code sections 499 (defamation) and 504 (intentional insult).
