NEW DELHI: In a significant relief for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Allahabad High Court’s order refusing to quash the summons issued to him in a defamation case over his alleged remarks against freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
“Issue notice. Stay on impugned order (of the Allahabad High Court),” the top court said in its order.
A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Manmohan, strongly criticised Gandhi’s comments, terming them “irresponsible”, and warned him against repeating such statements in the future.
“Let us not mock our freedom fighters,” the bench told Gandhi, cautioning him over his choice of words.
During the hearing, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Gandhi, was questioned by the court on whether Gandhi was aware that his grandmother, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, had once written a letter praising Savarkar.
“How can he make irresponsible statements on our freedom fighters without knowing history, geography about it?” the court remarked.
The bench also pointed out that even Mahatma Gandhi had used the words “your faithful servant” in his correspondence with the British. “This way you will say Mahatma Gandhi is servant of Britishers,” the court said, adding, “You have a good point on law, but comments like this are unwarranted.”
The court further warned, “Any further statement by him will be taken up suo motu basis,” and added, “They (freedom fighters) gave us freedom and we treat them like this.”
Highlighting the sensitivity of the location where the remarks were made, the bench said, “We could understand making the statement somewhere… but he made it in Akola. He (Savarkar) is worshipped there. You must give us an assurance not to repeat this in future.”
The top court passed the order while hearing Gandhi’s appeal against the Allahabad High Court’s decision to reject his plea seeking to quash the summons issued by a lower court in a defamation case.
The case stemmed from Gandhi’s speech during the Bharat Jodo Yatra on 17 November 2022 in Maharashtra’s Akola district, where he allegedly said that Savarkar was a British servant who received a pension.
Following this, Advocate Nripendra Pandey filed a complaint before a Lucknow lower court, which issued a summons to Gandhi. The court, in its order, observed that Gandhi’s remarks had spread hatred and ill-will in society.
Challenging the summons, Gandhi approached the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, which rejected his plea on 4 April. Justice Subhash Vidyarthi had observed that Gandhi had the option to approach the sessions judge under Section 397 (Power to revise trial court’s order) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Pandey accused Gandhi of intentionally insulting Savarkar and claimed the remarks were part of a well-planned conspiracy to defame the freedom fighter.
Gandhi is currently facing charges under Sections 153A (promoting enmity) and 505 (public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code.