Mumbai: A magistrate court in the city on Monday granted time to police till April 7 to file an inquiry report into the alleged defamatory remarks made against Vinayak Damodar Savarkar by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in 2016. The magistrate has issued direction on the complaint filed in court by Savarkar’s kin Ranjit.
Savarkar’s grandson Ranjit has filed a defamation case alleging that in 2016 Rahul Gandhi in his tweet from Congress party’s official twitter handle had made defamatory comments against Veer Savarkar.
In his complaint, Ranjit claims, “On March 5, 22 and 23, 2016 the official twitter account of the Congress, which is used by the party to communicate and make statements to the people at large, published four tweets in pictorial forms, along with comments on the said posters, calling Savarkar a traitor.”
It is further mentioned in the complaint that the said tweets stated that Savarkar begged for mercy from the then British government and that he was ready to be a slave in the British Raj.
“The defamatory tweets have been made with the aim to harm the reputation of Savarkar, to hurt the feeling of ‘Savarkar family’ and the citizens of this country at large,” read the complaint adding, “By calling V.D. Savarkar a traitor, the imputation deliberately tries to lower the morale and intellectual character of Savarkar, who was known fearless freedom fighter, social reformer and philosopher.”
Ranjit had also claimed that the Congress was distributing the booklets as part of a larger conspiracy against Savarkar. “Congress has always tried to defame Savarkar. Now it is high time that action is taken against Congress for defaming. This is not the first time Congress has attacked Savarkar,” he said.
Earlier, he had asked Shiv Sena to remove Congress from the alliance in Maharashtra and form a government with Maharashtra, stating that Uddhav Thackeray and the Shiv Sena are followers of Savarkar and they should not be with someone who every time insults Savarkar.
It may be recalled that apart from defamation case filed by Ranjeet Savarkar, Rahul Gandhi is also facing two other defamation cases filed by RSS members for allegedly making controversial remarks. One case is pending before Mazagaon magistrate court filed by RSS worker advocate Dhrutiman Joshi and another one is pending before the Bhiwandi court filed by local RSS activist Rajesh Kunte.
