Politics
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SC quashes Savarkar defamation summons against Gandhi
Times of India··14 Aug
The Supreme Court on August 14 quashed a Lucknow magistrate's summons and the criminal defamation complaint against Rahul Gandhi over remarks on V.D. Savarkar. Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu noted the Uttar Pradesh affidavit did not disclose the required sanction. The Additional Solicitor General and the complainant's counsel agreed there was no such disclosure.
Prism
What It Means For You
- If you follow cases against the Leader of the Opposition, the Supreme Court on August 14 ended the Lucknow Savarkar defamation complaint for want of Uttar Pradesh sanction.
- Uttar Pradesh readers can note the state's own affidavit recorded that sanction had not been disclosed, which the bench treated as fatal to the complaint.
- Anyone tracking Gandhi's 2022 Akola remarks can see the magistrate's summons of December 2023 now stand quashed along with the complaint.
What's Happening
- On August 14 Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu quashed the Lucknow defamation complaint and summons against Rahul Gandhi.
- The bench relied on a Uttar Pradesh affidavit that did not disclose the sanction required to prosecute.
- Counsel for the state and the complainant accepted that there was no disclosure of sanction on record.
How The Lucknow Case Reached The Supreme Court
- The magistrate summoned Gandhi on December 12, 2024 in some reports, December 2023 in others; the High Court refused to quash the summons on April 4, 2025.
- The Supreme Court stayed the trial-court proceedings on April 25, 2025 and extended that stay in July while seeking further submissions.
- At the 2025 stay hearing the court had cautioned Gandhi against repeating derogatory remarks about freedom fighters.
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