Supreme Court quashes criminal defamation case against Rahul Gandhi over Savarkar remarks
The Supreme Court quashed the criminal complaint and summons against Rahul Gandhi over his 2022 remarks on Savarkar, noting that the requisite sanction to prosecute him had not been obtained.
The Supreme Court dismissed a criminal defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday, according to a PTI report. The bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu allowed Gandhi's plea, noting that the necessary sanction for prosecuting him had not been obtained. Gandhi had made remarks about Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar during a Bharat Jodo Yatra rally in Maharashtra's Akola district on November 17, 2022.
He described Savarkar as a collaborator with the British and alleged he received a pension from the British. Advocate Nripendra Pandey filed a complaint, alleging Gandhi's remarks were intended to incite hatred and that they constituted an insult. Pandey initially sought an FIR from an Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, which was dismissed in June 2023.
Pandey then challenged the decision at the sessions court, which allowed his plea and sent the matter back to the magistrate court. In December 2024, the Lucknow magistrate summoned Gandhi, concluding his remarks potentially incited hatred. Gandhi appealed to higher courts, with the Allahabad High Court declining to grant relief on April 4, 2025.
The Supreme Court, while criticizing Gandhi's remarks, ultimately quashed the complaint and orders passed by the magistrate due to the lack of sanction for prosecution.
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