The case was filed on a complaint by Savarkar's grandnephew Satyaki, who alleged that the 54-year-old Congress leader had made defamatory remarks against the Hindutva icon at an event he attended in London in March 2023
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A special court in Pune granted bail to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case related to his alleged objectionable remarks on Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar, news agency PTI reported.
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The MP (Member of Parliament)/MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) Court on Friday granted bail to the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha on a surety bond of Rs 25,000 after he appeared before it through video-conferencing, his lawyer Milind Pawar said.
Senior Congress leader Mohan Joshi stood as surety for Gandhi before the court presided over by Amol Shinde, the judicial magistrate (first class) and special judge for MP/MLA cases, PTI reported.
Pawar said soon after his client appeared before the court, they moved a bail application, which the judge agreed.
According to PTI, the advocate said that the court also granted permanent exemption to the Lok Sabha MP from Rae Bareli from appearing before it.
The case was filed on a complaint by Savarkar's grandnephew Satyaki, who alleged that the 54-year-old Congress leader had made defamatory remarks against the Hindutva icon at an event he attended in London in March 2023.
Earlier, Satyaki's lawker, Advocate Sangram Kolhatkar, objected to Gandhi's application seeking virtual appearance, stating that there was no provision that allows an accused to appear in court through video-conferencing before securing bail.
The court, however, permitted Gandhi to attend the proceedings online.
Wearing a bottle green sweater, the MP appeared before the court and stated his name when the judge asked for it.
The matter will be next heard on February 18.
As per the complaint, Gandhi, while speaking at the London event, stated that Savarkar had written in a book that he and five to six of his friends once assaulted a Muslim man and that the freedom fighter felt happy about it. The complaint further stated that Savarkar had not written about such an incident anywhere and the Congress leader's remarks were aimed at defaming him.
The court had earlier asked Pune Police to investigate into the allegations and file a report on it.
Accordingly, the Vishrambaug Police, after an inquiry, submitted that there was prima facie truth in the complaint.
Gandhi had skipped the previous court appearance on December 2 citing the winter session of Parliament which he was attending.
Pawar had then assured that the Opposition parliamentarian will appear in the court on January 10.
(With PTI inputs)
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