Mumbai: 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 Gandhi on September 27, noting that the “statement made against a patriotic person prima-facie seems to be defamatory.”
“Having considered the submissions made before me and considering the record, it appears that the statements made by the accused against patriotic person prima-facie seem to be defamatory. There are sufficient grounds to proceed in the case,” the order passed by an additional chief judicial magistrate in Nashik on September 27 said.
The complainant submitted to the court that Gandhi had said that “Savarkar is BJP and RSS Jin” and that “with a folding hand Savarkar prayed for release and later on promise to work for the British Government”.
The complainant claimed that these were statements which were aimed at creating a loss of reputation and defaming Savarkar. The complaint sought action under sections of the Indian Penal Code pertaining todefamation and intentional insult.
