[REVISION HISTORY]

Rahul Gandhi defamation trial over Savarkar

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2026-08-14 08:14 UTC → 2026-08-15 14:58 UTC · added ~~removed~~

In late July 2026, a special court in Pune, presided over by Judge Amol Shinde, began hearing a criminal defamation case filed by the Savarkar family against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The prosecution introduced excerpts from Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s book, ‘Savarkar’s Science-oriented Essays’, which question the existence of God and criticize religious practices. During testimony, Satyaki Savarkar, the grandnephew of the ideologue, confirmed the authorship and stated that his granduncle regarded cows merely as ‘useful’ animals, asserting that ‘regarding a cow as a deity is an insult to humanity and to the very concept of divinity.’ Rahul Gandhi’s counsel, Milind Pawar, utilized the same text during cross-examination to bolster the defense. The legal battle centered on whether Gandhi’s remarks regarding Savarkar constituted defamation. On August 14, 2026, the Supreme Court of India quashed the criminal proceedings and summons against Gandhi. The ruling, delivered by a bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Sheetal Nagu, overturned lower court orders after the Uttar Pradesh government submitted an affidavit stating there was no record of the mandatory legal sanction required to prosecute the lawmaker. The case had originated from comments made by Gandhi during the 2022 ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, where he referred to Savarkar as a ‘servant of the British’ who received a pension from them. On August 15, 2026, Judicial Magistrate First Class Amol Shindere dismissed an application by researcher Pankaj Phadnis to intervene in the proceedings. Phadnis argued his 25 years of research would assist the court, but the court ruled he lacked ‘locus standi’ as he was not a family member or near relative of Savarkar. The court imposed a cost of ₹20,000 on Phadnis for wasting judicial time.

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