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Supreme Court quashes case against Rahul Gandhi over Savarkar remarks
The Supreme Court on Friday quashed criminal proceedings against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his 2022 remarks about Hindutva ideologue V.D. Savarkar, ruling that the prosecution lacked the mandatory sanction of the…
The Story in Brief
The Supreme Court on Friday quashed criminal proceedings against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his 2022 remarks about Hindutva ideologue V.D. Savarkar, ruling that the prosecution lacked the mandatory sanction of the Uttar Pradesh government. A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu set aside the summons issued by a lower court, halting the case.
The case stemmed from remarks Gandhi made during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Maharashtra, where he called Savarkar a 'servant of the British' and alleged he received a colonial pension. Lawyer Nripendra Pandey filed a complaint claiming the comments were defamatory and promoted disharmony. The lower court had found a prima facie case under IPC Sections 153A and 505. The Supreme Court, however, noted the statutory sanction required to prosecute these offences had not been obtained from the Uttar Pradesh government.
The Indian Opinion
Some will frame this as Rahul Gandhi escaping accountability on a technicality, others as a free speech victory. The court did not rule on the accuracy of his Savarkar remarks; it only enforced the legal requirement for state sanction. That is due process, not a political verdict. The concrete test now is whether the Uttar Pradesh government chooses to grant retroactive sanction, potentially reviving the prosecution, or whether the matter ends here.
Source: nationalheraldindia.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
