The Allahabad High Court on Friday declined to grant relief to Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, in the ongoing defamation case related to VD Savarkar. The case is currently pending before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court in Lucknow.

Gandhi had approached the High Court seeking to quash the summons issued to him in December 2023. He also challenged a Sessions Court order that had revived the complaint by Advocate Nripendra Pandey, which was earlier dismissed in June 2023.

During the hearing, Justice Subhash Vidyarthi noted that Gandhi had an alternative remedy under Section 397 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Section 438 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita). Taking this into account, the Court disposed of the petition.

In December last year, the Court summoned Rahul Gandhi as an accused after observing that his remarks and actions had allegedly incited hatred and ill-will within society.

The allegations stem from a press conference where Gandhi is said to have distributed pamphlets and made statements claiming that Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was a "servant of the British" and received a pension from them.

Additional Civil Judge (Senior Division)/ACJM, Lucknow, Alok Verma, while passing the order, observed that the act of distributing pre-printed pamphlets and leaflets at the press conference reflected an intention to weaken and insult the foundational values of the nation by spreading enmity and division.

The order was issued on the basis of a complaint filed by Advocate Pandey, who alleged that Gandhi’s statements were made with the deliberate intent to foster societal discord by maligning Savarkar, a revered nationalist figure, as a British collaborator.

Case Title: Rahul Gandhi vs. State of UP Through Secretary, Home, Lucknow & Another
Counsel for Applicant: Pranshu Agrawal, Mohammed Samar Ansari, Mohd. Yasir Abbasi
Counsel for Opposite Party: Shishir Chandra