Rahul Gandhi pleads not guilty in Savarkar Defamation Case

Pune: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday, July 11, pleaded not guilty in a Pune court in a defamation case pertaining to his comments on Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar.

Judicial Magistrate (First Class) and Special Judge (MP/MLA court) Amol Sriram Shinde read out the charge, levelled by Satyaki Savarkar, a grandnephew of V D Savarkar, to which Gandhi pleaded not guilty through his lawyer Milind Pawar.

The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha was not present in the court, and his lawyer Pawar, pleaded not guilty on his behalf before the court.

The judge, during the recording of the plea, asked whether the accused had received copies of the complaint and accompanying documents, to which Pawar said yes.

On the second question on whether the accused has understood the particulars of the offence levelled against him, the defence lawyer replied in the affirmative.

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On the third and last question, which was “do you plead guilty”, Pawar replied “no, I do not plead guilty” on Gandhi’s behalf.

Advocate Sangram Kolhatkar, who is representing Satyaki Savarkar, said since the phase of recording of plea of the accused is over, the trial in the case will proceed now.

Satyaki Savarkar had approached a court here in April 2023 with a criminal defamation complaint against Gandhi accusing him of making false allegations against the Hindutva ideologue during his address in London in March 2023.

As per the complaint, Gandhi had allegedly told the gathering that Savarkar had written a book in which the latter stated that he and his five to six friends were beating a Muslim man and he (Savarkar) felt happy.

As per Satyaki Savarkar’s complaint, Gandhi’s statement about VD Savarkar was false, malicious, and aimed at insulting him.

“The matter pertaining to the defamation case against Rahul Gandhi was fixed for recording of plea. Today, I approached the court moving an application that permission be granted to record the plea on behalf of my client. The court allowed the application and on behalf of Mr Gandhi, I pleaded not guilty before the court,” advocate Pawar told PTI Videos.

As per the procedure, the judge read out the charge against Gandhi pertaining to his disputed speech in London to which the defence counsel pleaded not guilty, he said.

Pawar added that the next hearing has been posted for July 29.

Advocate Kolhatkar, appearing for Satyaki Savarkar, said considering the delay in recording the plea of the accused, the court instructed the defence to record the plea.

“Since Mr Gandhi has been given permanent exemption from attending the trial physically, his lawyer pleaded not guilty on Mr Gandhi’s behalf. The phase of recording of the plea is over and the case will now proceed for trial. On behalf of the complainant, we will be producing our witnesses and evidence. The defence will have an opportunity to cross examine them,” Kolhatkar explained.

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