Late Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar’s grandson Satyaki Savarkar has approached a court to file a criminal defamation complaint against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accusing him of making false allegations against Savarkar during his address in London.
He has approached a court in Maharashtra with a complaint under sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code.
“Since the concerned court officer was absent today, they asked us to come again on Saturday to get the number of the case. We have not received the case number yet and we will receive it on Saturday,” Satyaki Savarkar was quoted as saying to news agency PTI.
Satyaki alleged that while addressing a gathering in London, Gandhi said that V D Savarkar had written a book in which the latter stated that he and his five to six friends were beating a Muslim man and that made Savarkar feel happy.
“Rahul Gandhi, while speaking about this incident, asked if it was not a cowardly act. First of all, this incident, as narrated by Gandhi, is a fictional one. No such incident had taken place in the life of Savarkar who was a man of scientific temperament. He believed in democracy and had advised Muslims to adopt a scientific approach,” Satyaki Savarkar said.
He added that the now-disqualified MP’s statements were false, malicious, and aimed at insulting him.
“V D Savarkar had not written such things in any book, so let this thing come up in the court as to in which book Rahul Gandhi read this incident,” Satyaki Savarkar said.
Satyaki said that he will submit the video evidence in the court.
Earlier, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that he will file a defamation case against Gandhi for a social media post suggesting that the former had links with Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani. He said that he will lodge a defamation case against Gandhi in Guwahati after April 14, following PM Modi’s visit to Assam.
On March 23, a metropolitan court in Surat convicted Gandhi of criminal defamation for his 2019 remark, “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?”. He was sentenced him to two years imprisonment and was subsequently granted bail. Following his conviction, he was also disqualified as a Member of Parliament.
In another instance, speaking at a press conference, Gandhi, when asked about his opinion on the suggestions that he could have escaped conviction by apologising for his remarks, Rahul Gandhi said his name is “not Savarkar but Gandhi”, adding that “Gandhis don’t apologise”. His statement led to a political slugfest.