A court in Maharashtra's Nashik district has summoned, Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi for making objectionable remarks against Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
Nashik Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Deepali Parimal Kaduskar issued a process 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 director of the NGO has filed a complaint against Rahul Gandhi, claiming that during the press conference Gandhi addressed in Hingoli district and the speech given by the Congress leader in November 2022, Gandhi knowingly harmed Veer Savarkar's reputation through his words and visual representations.
"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 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 govt," the complainant said.
The court then issued the process against Gandhi for offences under Indian Penal Code sections 499 (defamation) and 504 (intentional insult).