Prima facie truth in complaint accusing Rahul Gandhi of defaming Savarkar: Pune cops tell court
Pune, May 28: The Pune police have said there is prima facie truth in a complaint filed against Rahul Gandhi by V D Savarkar's grandnephew who had accused the Congress leader of defaming the Hindutva ideologue in a speech made in London in 2023.
The police stated this in an enquiry report submitted on Monday in the court of judicial magistrate (first class) Akshi Jain, said advocate Sangram Kolhatkar, who represents Satyaki Ashok Savarkar, the complainant.
Kolhatkar said the court may issue a notice to Rahul Gandhi seeking his appearance.
Satyaki Savarkar had said his lawyers moved the city court with a complaint under Indian Penal Code sections 499 and 500 (defamation) in April last year.
The court had asked the Vishrambaug police to verify the proof submitted by Satyaki Savarkar and submit a report by May 27.
"The Vishrambaug police stated that Satyaki Savarkar had filed a complaint in the court last April accusing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of making false claims about the late revolutionary (V D Savarkar) in a speech made in London in March 2023," said Kolhatkar.
As per the complaint, Rahul Gandhi claimed in his speech that V D Savarkar had written in a book that he and five to six of his friends once beat up a Muslim man and he (Savarkar) felt happy.
Satyaki Savarkar said no such incident ever took place, and V D Savarkar never wrote any such thing anywhere, the complaint stated, terming Rahul Gandhi's allegation as fictitious, false and malicious.
"The Vishrambaug police submitted a report on Monday and told the court that in their probe, it has been revealed that V D Savarkar had not written about such incident in any of his books but despite that Gandhi made that kind of remarks during his speech in London in March 2023 and defamed Savarkar," said Kolhatkar.
The police stated prima facie there is a truth in the complaint filed by Satyaki Savarkar that Gandhi defamed V D Savarkar in his speech.
When contacted, assistant police inspector Tukaram Nimbalkar confirmed the report was submitted in the court.
Notably, a Surat metropolitan court in March 2023 convicted Rahul Gandhi of criminal defamation for his 2019 remark, "How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?", and sentenced him to two years in jail.
A sessions court granted him bail in April last year.
The Supreme Court in August last year stayed his conviction in the defamation case.
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Karnataka: Woman delivers baby on train after emergency halt in Dakshina Kannada
Mangaluru (Karnataka) (PTI): A woman travelling from Mangaluru to Mysuru delivered a baby on board a train after it was halted at a station in Dakshina Kannada district, officials said on Monday.
According to railway sources, the passenger began experiencing labour pain during the journey on Sunday. The train was stopped at B C Road station in Bantwal taluk of this district to facilitate medical assistance. However, no doctor reached the spot for over 30 minutes after the halt.
In the absence of immediate medical support, two co-passengers stepped in to assist the woman. The delivery was conducted in the train's toilet compartment. Both the mother and the newborn were reported to be safe following the delivery, they said.
Railway police officials had arranged for the woman to be shifted to a medical facility. She was admitted to the Government Lady Goschen Hospital in Mangaluru for postnatal care.
According to the OBG (Obstetrics and Gynecology) department officials at the hospital, the child and mother will be discharged after the initial observation period is over.
They told PTI that the delivery was done in trying conditions. The two ladies who carried out the operation had done a good job. The child and mother arrived at the facility 22 kilometers from the spot. Also, the mother experienced no blood loss or any other complications.
The neonate has been incubated and the mother is undergoing normal observational procedure at the hospital, the hospital officials said.
Officials said the woman is a resident of Mysuru and had been travelling home at the time of the incident.
