MUMBAI: A court in Maharashtra's Nashik city on Thursday granted bail to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case filed against him for remarks about Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in 2022.
Appearing through video link before additional chief judicial magistrate R C Narwadia, Gandhi, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, pleaded `not guilty'.
Nashik-resident Devendra Bhutada, through his lawyer Manoj Pingle, has filed the criminal defamation case under sections 500 (defamation) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code.
After Gandhi pleaded not guilty, his lawyers sought bail. The court allowed the plea on a bond of Rs 15,000, said advocate Pingle.
The complainant, director of an NGO, alleged that Gandhi, at a press conference in Hingoli and in a speech during his yatra in November 2022, made statements that harmed Savarkar's reputation.
"The speech of the accused along with press statements try to ruin the reputation of the complainant's idol Swatantryaveer Savarkar and his contribution to the society along with his noble work in the pre-independence period," the complaint said.
Gandhi said that "Savarkar prayed for release with folded hands and later on promised to work for the British government", it alleged.
Gandhi is also facing a defamation case in Pune, filed by Savarkar's grandnephew, over his statements about the late Hindutva ideologue.