Savarkar defamation case: Lucknow court imposes Rs 200 cost on Rahul Gandhi for skipping appearance
Lucknow, Mar 5 (PTI): A court here on Wednesday imposed a cost of Rs 200 on Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for skipping appearance in a 2022 defamation case related to his alleged derogatory remarks on freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Alok Verma had in December 2024 asked Gandhi to appear in the court on Wednesday. However, he didn't, and his legal team filed an application seeking exemption from personal appearance.
The court imposed a cost Rs 200 on him and said the amount would be paid to the complainant's lawyer. The next hearing was fixed for April 14.
In the application filed during the day, Gandhi's lawyer said the Leader of the Opposition has had official engagements, including meetings with foreign dignitaries and other scheduled programmes, which prevented him from attending the court in-person.
The defamation case stems from Gandhi's comments on Savarkar made on November 17, 2022 during his Bharat Jodo Yatra at a rally in Maharashtra's Akola district.
Advocate Nripendra Pandey filed a complaint, accusing Gandhi of intentionally insulting Savarkar during the rally.
The complainant alleged Gandhi's remarks were part of a well-planned conspiracy to defame Savarkar, and the comments were broadcast widely across the media.
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11 more bodies retrieved from Arunachal accident site
Itanagar (PTI): Eleven more bodies were retrieved on Saturday from the deep gorge in Arunachal Pradesh's Anjaw district, where a mini-truck on which 22 labourers from Assam were travelling fell, an official said.
With this, 17 bodies have been recovered from the accident site, Anjaw's deputy commissioner Milo Kojin said.
He said three more bodies will be brought out on Sunday.
The operation, being conducted by a joint team of the NDRF and Army, resumed at 6 am.
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"The retrieval process was extremely difficult because of the treacherous terrain, and the gorge is very deep," Kojin said.
The operation was suspended around 4 pm due to low visibility and will be resumed on Sunday morning, he said.
"One person is still missing, and a search operation will be carried out tomorrow," he added.
The accident happened on the evening of December 8, around 40 km from Hayuliang towards Chaglagam in the district. On the evening of December 10, one survivor managed to climb out of the gorge and reach a nearby Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) labour camp, following which the authorities were alerted.
Six bodies were recovered from the gorge on Friday and handed over to their families on Saturday.
