The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has refused to entertain the plea of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to interfere in the proceedings of a lower court over his remarks on Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
Allahabad High Court. (File Photo: IANS)
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has refused to entertain the plea of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to interfere in the proceedings of a lower court over his remarks on Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
A single judge bench of Justice Subhash Vidyarthi said on Friday that Rahul Gandhi has an alternative remedy of criminal revision under Section 397/399 of the CrPC and can approach the sessions judge for relief. In view of this, the court disposed of his plea.
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The Congress leader had challenged the December 2023 summoning order issued by the trial court.
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The case filed by advocate Nripendra Pandey is pending before an Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court in Lucknow.
The sessions court revived the complaint against him, which was initially dismissed in June 2023, after allowing the revision plea filed by Pandey, leading to Gandhi’s summoning.
The defamation case is related to allegations that Rahul Gandhi, during a press conference in Maharashtra in 2022, stated that Savarkar was a “servant of the British” and received pension from them.
The Lucknow court had imposed a fine of Rs 200 on Rahul Gandhi on March 5, 2025, for failing to appear in the defamation case. The court also directed him to be present on the next hearing on April 14, warning of strict legal consequences, including a non-bailable warrant, if he failed to comply.
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