NEW DELHI: A 'think tank' has written to Attorney General K K Venugopal seeking his consent to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi for his remarks that V D Savarkar was complicit in Mahatma Gandhi's murder.
The letter by 'Abhinav Bharat Congress' and its founder Pankaj Phadnis referred to a judgement dated March 28, 2018 which stated, "The submission of the petitioner that Shri Savarkar has been held guilty for the murder of Gandhiji is misplaced."
"After this categorical assertion by the highest country court of the country, where is the scope to suggest that Savarkar 'murdered' Gandhi ji, as you are reported to have said?" the think tank said in a letter to Owaisi dated October 15.
In its letter dated October 23, the think tank said: "This has reference to our letter of October 15, 2021 addressed to Owaisi. You will notice that the said said letter was a polite request to cease and desist from suggesting and our imputing in any manner that Savarkar was held guilty of murder of Gandhi ji.
"It was expected that he would issue a clarification to set the record straight. Unfortunately, the said letter has not even been acknowledged by him. As such we seek your kind consent to initiate contempt of supreme court proceedings against Owaisi for his remarks on the subject.
Slamming RSS and BJP's appreciation of Veer Savarkar, Owaisi had recently claimed that by installing Savarkar's portrait in Parliament, they were sending out a message that Mahatma Gandhi is not going to remain the Father of the Nation and that Savarkar would take his place.
"What pinches me the most as a parliamentarian is that in the central hall of Parliament, on one side there is a photo of Mahatma Gandhi and right opposite to it, there is a photo of Savarkar, who was mentioned by Justice Jeevan Lal Kapur Commission," he had told media persons.
Savarkar was acquitted due to lack of corroborative evidence during the trial in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, he had said. Asked about RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat's reported comments that Savarkar was not an enemy of Muslims and that he wrote ghazals in Urdu, Owaisi claimed that it is a recorded fact that Savarkar was against Urdu.
He also demanded to know if Bhagwat would refuse the observations of the Justice Kapur Commission of Inquiry in its report that Savarkar was complicit in Mahatma Gandhi's murder and part of the conspiracy.