Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday, through his counsel, told a Pune court that he has been receiving life threats due to the lineage of the complainants in the defamation case linked to Satyaki Savarkar.
He urged the court to take note of what he described as “grave apprehensions” about his safety and the fairness of the proceedings, according to a report by Bar and Bench’s report.
Rahul Gandhi urged the special court, which is hearing his defamation case, to take judicial notice of what he has described as “grave apprehensions” regarding his safety and the fairness of the proceedings in the case. Beyond that, he also sought preventive protection from the state, as per media reports.
The application filed by Rahul Gandhi also stated that in a written statement submitted on July 29, Satyaki Savarkar had categorically admitted that he is a direct descendant-through his maternal family lineage- of Nathuram Godse and Gopal Godse, the principal accused in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, and also claimed descent from Vinayak Damodaran Savarkar.
The application also detailed Gandhi’s recent political interventions, including the August 11 slogan “Vote Chor Sarkaar” in Parliament and the submission of documents alleging electoral irregularities – actions which he claimed have triggered hostility from political opponents. The court will next hear the matter on September 10.
The defamation case against Gandhi was filed by Satyaki Savarkar after the former made a speech in London in March 2023, referring to an incident in Savarkar’s writings where Savarkar and others purportedly assaulted a Muslim man and found it pleasurable.
Satyaki Savarkar disputed the presence of such accounts in Savarkar’s published works and moved the court, contending the remarks were false and misleading.
