Pune: Hours after a plea was filed in a Pune court claiming there was an apprehension of threat to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from followers of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, his lawyer said on Wednesday that it had been submitted without Gandhi’s consent and would be withdrawn.

Advocate Milind Pawar, who represents Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case filed by Satyaki Savarkar, the grand-nephew of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, said he would file another application on Thursday to withdraw the Pursis (application) placed before Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Amol Shinde.

Why is Rahul Gandhi facing a defamation case?

The defamation case was filed over certain statements Gandhi allegedly made against the late freedom fighter and Hindutva ideologue.

According to Pawar, he drafted the application without consulting Gandhi.

“The latter has taken a strong exception to the filing of this Pursis and expressed his disagreement with its contents,” the lawyer said in a press release issued late in the evening.

What did the withdrawn application contain?

The application submitted earlier in the day claimed that complainant Satyaki Savarkar had admitted to being a direct descendant, through maternal lineage, of Nathuram Godse and Gopal Godse, principal accused in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

It further stated that Rahul Gandhi, as Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, had recently held a press conference in Delhi, presenting to the nation what he described as evidence of electoral fraud by the Election Commission.

“Furthermore, during the parliamentary debate on the subject of Hindutva, there was a heated exchange between the Prime Minister and Shri Rahul Gandhi, a matter well known to the public. Against this backdrop, there is little doubt that the complainant, his great-grandfathers (the Godses), those connected with the ideology of Vinayak Savarkar, and some followers of Savarkar who are presently in power, may harbour hostility or resentment towards Gandhi,” the application said.

“In light of the documented history of violent and anti-constitutional tendencies linked to the complainant’s lineage, and considering the prevailing political climate, there exists a clear, reasonable, and substantial apprehension that Rahul Gandhi may face harm, wrongful implication, or other forms of targeting by persons subscribing to the ideology of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar,” it stated.

The Pune court has already granted bail to Rahul Gandhi in the defamation matter. The trial has not yet begun.

Reacting to the development, Advocate Sangram Kolhatkar, counsel for Satyaki Savarkar, questioned the motive behind the application. “This is nothing but an attempt to delay the trial by moving such frivolous pleas,” he said.

What is the basis of the defamation complaint?

Satyaki Savarkar’s defamation complaint alleges that in a speech delivered in London in March 2023, Rahul Gandhi claimed that V D Savarkar had written in a book about an incident where he and “five to six of his friends once beat up a Muslim man” and that Savarkar “felt happy” about it.

The complaint states that “no such incident ever took place, and V D Savarkar never wrote any such thing anywhere.”
PTI inputs