A special court in Pune on Friday granted bail to Congress leader and MP Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case initiated by Satyaki Savarkar, the grandnephew of Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

Judge Amol Shinde of the MP/MLA court approved Gandhi’s bail plea on a surety bond of ₹25,000 after the Congress leader attended the hearing via video conferencing. Senior Congress leader Mohan Joshi stood as surety for Gandhi, according to his counsel, Milind Pawar. The court also granted Gandhi permanent exemption from future appearances in the case, Pawar added.

The case relates to Gandhi’s remarks during a speech in London in March 2023, where he allegedly referenced Savarkar’s writings about an incident involving an assault on a Muslim man, which Savarkar purportedly described as “pleasurable.” Contesting the claim, Satyaki Savarkar filed the complaint, arguing that no such account exists in Savarkar’s works.

The complainant has sought the maximum penalty under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code for defamation, along with the highest compensation permissible under Section 357 of the Criminal Procedure Code.