A special court for Members of Parliament, Members of Legislative Assembly (MP/MLA) in Pune passed an order that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi be booked in connection with the case against him for allegedly defaming freedom fighter and Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. 2 Must appear in person on December, 2024.
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Rahul Gandhi summoned to appear in Pune court on December 2
A Pune court ordered Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to appear in person on December 2 in connection with a defamation complaint filed against him by the grandson of Hindutva icon VD Savarkar. Satyaki Savarkar had filed a complaint in a Pune court, claiming that Gandhi, in his speech in London in March 2023, had said that Savarkar had written in a book that he and his five-six friends once A Muslim man was beaten and he (Savarkar) was happy. According to the petition, Savarkar has not written this anywhere. The court had asked the police to investigate the allegations and file a report. Vishrambagh police station had investigated and said that there was prima facie truth in the complaint.
On October 4, the special court for MPs/MLAs headed by Joint Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Amol Shinde issued summons to Gandhi to appear before him on October 23. However, Gandhi did not appear as he was told that he had not received the summons. Petitioner Satyaki Savarkar’s lawyer Sangram Kolhatkar said he prayed the court on Monday to issue summons to Gandhi to appear before the court.
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Kolhatkar said that lawyer Milind Pawar, on behalf of Gandhi, approached the court and said that the Congress leader would appear in the court on the next date. However, we objected to Jadhav representing Gandhi as no ‘vakalatnama or parsis’ was produced in the court. Advocate Jadhav told the court that Gandhi would appear in the court under any circumstances. On this the court asked Gandhi to appear in the court on 2 December.
