Rahul's lawyer opposes plea seeking his appearance in Pune court in defamation case

Pune, Sep 22 (PTI) Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's lawyer in a defamation case, filed over his alleged objectionable remarks on Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar, on Monday opposed the complainant's plea demanding a Pune court direct the politician to personally remain present before it during trial.

Advocate Milind Pawar, representing Gandhi (55), argued his client's presence in the court was not required.

Citing a now withdrawn application by Pawar that mentioned a threat to Gandhi's life, Satyaki Savarkar, grandnephew of V D Savarkar and the complainant in the case, had earlier urged the court to summon the Lok Sabha MP and ascertain whether his previous applications were filed on his instructions.

Pawar on Monday opposed the application and argued the request has no legal standing.

He pointed out that the complainant has not cited any provision of law or strong reason to justify his demand for Gandhi's personal attendance in the court.

"The application is one-sided, baseless, and cannot be sustained in the eyes of law," Pawar submitted before the court.

Pawar requested the court to first ask the complainant to clearly explain under which section of law the application has been filed.

The court should reject applications that lack a sound legal foundation and instead encourage ideologies that are democratic and lawful, he contended.

The court posted the matter for next hearing on October 3.

Last month, Gandhi's lawyer withdrew a plea claiming apprehension of threat to the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha from followers of VD Savarkar, saying it was filed without his client's consent.

Satyaki Savarkar had filed a defamation complaint against Gandhi, alleging that in a speech made in London in March 2023, the Congress MP claimed V D Savarkar had written in a book that he and five to six of his friends once beat up a Muslim man and he (Savarkar) felt happy.

No such incident ever took place, and V D Savarkar never wrote any such thing anywhere, the complaint claimed. PTI SPK RSY