Pune: A key discrepancy has surfaced in the defamation case against Senior Indian National Congress Leader and Lok Sabha’s Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi over his alleged remarks on Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. The issue relates to digital evidence submitted in court.
During cross-examination on Tuesday, the complainant admitted that a pen drive was given instead of the CD mentioned in the original complaint. The development came during the hearing in the Special Court for MPs/MLAs in Pune.
The case was filed by Satyaki Savarkar (grandnephew of VD Savarkar), following Rahul Gandhi’s speech in London in 2023, where he allegedly made defamatory remarks about Savarkar.
Counsel for Rahul Gandhi, Advocate Milind Pawar, raised questions about the electronic evidence during cross-examination. It was revealed that the CD earlier submitted in court was blank. The summons against Rahul Gandhi had reportedly been issued based on this CD.
The defence also pointed out that while the complaint referred to a CD, no pen drive had been submitted at the initial stage of the case. This raised doubts over the consistency of evidence.
Technical Lapses In The Trial?
Further, issues were flagged regarding compliance with Section 65B of the Information Technology Act of 2000, which is mandatory for electronic records. The court was told that proper certification for the YouTube links submitted as evidence was not provided.
The complainant admitted that the certificates submitted did not carry signatures of any authorised technical expert.
The court has taken note of these technical lapses. The trial is ongoing.
