Mumbai: A 66-year-old Dadar-based professor, Dr. Pankaj K. Phadnis, has filed an intervention application before the chief judicial magistrate, Pune, in connection with the criminal defamation case filed by Veer Savarkar’s grandnephew, Satyaki Savarkar, against Congress leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi. Through the application, Phadnis has urged the court to confine the ongoing criminal defamation proceedings strictly to the allegations in the complaint and not allow the case to turn into a debate on Veer Savarkar’s historical legacy.
In his application, Phadnis has sought directions from the court to ensure that the parties confine themselves strictly to the issues arising from the present complaint and refrain from converting the judicial proceedings into a political platform. He has also sought the deletion from the record of all questions, answers, observations and material that, according to him, travel beyond the jurisdiction of the court. In the alternative, he has requested that all documentary material annexed to his intervention application relating to Veer Savarkar be taken on record.
Further, he has urged the court to direct both the complainant and the respondent not to raise issues, including the so-called “mercy petition” of Savarkar, contending that such issues are wholly irrelevant to the adjudication of the present complaint.
Phadnis submitted that he has placed on record documentary material relating to Savarkar’s contribution to India’s freedom struggle, including a letter by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi describing Savarkar as a “remarkable son of India.” He also referred to a documentary released by the Films Division of India during Savarkar’s birth centenary and sought permission to screen it before the trial court in support of his contentions.
The affidavit further states that the complainant and the respondent have substantially adopted similar pleadings on the issue of his intervention, which, according to Phadnis, has unnecessarily consumed valuable judicial time.
The affidavit also reads that the trial court’s jurisdiction is limited to determining whether the statements attributed to Rahul Gandhi constitute criminal defamation on the basis of admissible evidence. It contends that the court is not required to adjudicate historical or political issues concerning Savarkar’s contribution to India’s freedom movement or compare him with other freedom fighters, such as Bhagat Singh.
According to the affidavit, the proceedings held on July 1 and July 7, 2026, as well as media reports, indicate that the case has increasingly centred on debates surrounding Savarkar’s role in the freedom struggle. Phadnis argued that such discussions effectively amount to “holding his trial in absentia,” despite Savarkar having passed away in 1966.
The criminal defamation case stems from remarks allegedly made by Rahul Gandhi in March 2023. He allegedly referred to Veer Savarkar as a collaborator with the British and mentioned the “mercy petitions” he had written while in prison.
Claiming that these statements were defamatory and had tarnished Savarkar’s reputation, Satyaki Savarkar filed a criminal defamation complaint against Rahul Gandhi under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code.
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