Savarkar defamation case: complainant accuses Rahul Gandhi of perjury

Pune, Aug 13 (PTI) Satyaki Savarkar, the complainant in a defamation case against Rahul Gandhi over his alleged comments against Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, has filed an application before the court seeking to prosecute the Congress leader for `perjury' or lying under oath.

The plea, filed before the special court for MPs and MLAs, accused Gandhi of making "false and misleading statements" regarding the receipt of a video clip which, Satyaki claimed, contained defamatory remarks made by Gandhi about the Hindutva ideologue.

"The accused had filed a pursis (application) last month complaining that he had not received the defamatory video...," said the plea filed by Advocate Sangram Kolhatkar on behalf of Satyaki Savarkar.

But Gandhi's lawyer admitted to have received all documents produced by the complainant (including the CD containing the defamatory speech), it said.

Yet, Gandhi's application claimed he did not receive the same, it said.

"This clearly demonstrates that the accused is attempting to evade the allegations made by the complainant, as the video and speech made by the Accused form the very crux of the present complaint," stated the application.

Satyaki Savarkar, Savarkar's grand nephew, has filed a defamation complaint against Rahul Gandhi, alleging that in a speech made in London in March 2023, the Congress leader claimed that 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 KRK