UPDATE Savarkar defamation case: Rahul Gandhi repudiates ‘threat to life’

UPDATE: Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has expressed his strong objections to his lawyer’s submission of a pursis — without consulting Gandhi himself — that alleged a threat to his life from the followers of the idealogies of V.D. Savarkar and Nathuram Godse, including the petitioner who seeks to bring a defamation case against the LoP.

In a post released by AICC chairman of media and publicity Pawan Khera, advocate Milind K. Pawar's acknowledgement letter has been shared, saying that he acted on his own in this matter, drafting the pursis without his client's knowledge and it shall be withdrawn in the court tomorrow, 14 August, as Gandhi has taken "strong exception" to its contents and expressed his disagreement with the position taken therein.

Khera posted to say "the matter of danger to his life" was posted without Gandhi’s consent, and he has strong objections to it.

ED: The earlier version of this story, below, was published at 7:06 p.m. based on the best available information at the time

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has informed a Pune court hearing the defamation case against him that he faces potential threat to his life from the followers of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Nathuram Godse’s ideologies. On his behalf, counsel argued it is the constitutional duty of the state to provide the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha “preventive protection”.

Gandhi, who is being sued by Satyaki Savarkar, a great-nephew of V.D. Savarkar, made this assertion through an application presented to the special court in Pune handling cases against MPs and MLAs in Pune.

The case, which is yet to proceed to trial, involves allegations that Rahul Gandhi made certain remarks against V.D. Savarkar, a Hindutva ideologue that the RSS-BJP ecosystem revere as a ‘freedom fighter’.

In his application — filed by Gandhi’s lawyer Adv. Milind Pawar before judicial magistrate (first class) Amol Shinde — Gandhi’s argument highlighted that Satyaki Savarkar has acknowledged being a direct maternal descendant of Nathuram Godse and Gopal Godse, the main accused in Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination.

The application notes that during a parliamentary debate on Hindutva, there was a well-known heated exchange between prime minister Narenda Modi and Gandhi. Against this backdrop — the application contends — the complainant, his great-grandfathers (the Godse family), individuals connected to Savarkar’s ideology and some of Savarkar’s current followers who are in power are likely to harbour considerable hostility or resentment towards Gandhi.

It states, therefore, that “given the documented history of violent and anti-constitutional tendencies associated with the complainant’s lineage, and considering the current volatile political environment, there exists a reasonable and substantial fear that Rahul Gandhi could be subjected to harm, wrongful implication, or other forms of targeting by individuals subscribing to the ideology of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.”

The application emphasises that this concern is grounded in the historical record of political violence linked to extremist factions and, given the ideological heritage of the complainant, combined with the hostile current climate, the fear is neither vague nor unfounded. It concludes that “preventive protection [for Gandhi] is not only wise but a constitutional obligation of the state”.

Advocate Pawar stated that this pursis — or formal application — was submitted as a precaution to protect the integrity, fairness and transparency of the ongoing proceedings.

He added, “It cannot be ruled out that individuals inspired by the unconstitutional ideology of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and holding the same dangerous mindset as Nathuram and Gopal Godse may pose a threat to Gandhi’s life.”

The court has already granted Gandhi bail in this case.

Responding to the plea, Satyaki Savarkar dismissed it as frivolous and argued it was an attempt to delay the trial. “The facts Gandhi mentioned in his application are unrelated to the current case,” he told reporters outside.

Satyaki Savarkar had previously filed a complaint against Gandhi, alleging that during a speech in London in March 2023, Gandhi claimed that V.D. Savarkar had written in a book that he and some friends once assaulted a Muslim man and that Savarkar felt happy about it.

Satyaki Savarkar denied that such an incident ever occurred, asserting that Savarkar never made such an admission anywhere.

Gandhi has recently held a press conference in New Delhi where he presented alleged evidence of electoral fraud committed by the Election Commission of India. He also conducted a protest on Parliament premises, where he and his INDIA bloc allies raised slogans against the BJP-led NDA government, dubbing it the "vote chor sarkar".

With the INDIA bloc about to commence an escalated campaign on vote chori and the Bihar SIR exercise, including a Vote Adhikar Yatra across the state, the claim to personal protection for Gandhi — if upheld by the court — could certainly prove timely.

With PTI inputs