“Does your client know that Mahatma Gandhi also used ‘your faithful servant’ while addressing the Viceroy?” asked the Supreme Court on Friday, as it reprimanded Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his comments against Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
The bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Manmohan also described Rahul Gandhi’s statements against Savarkar as “irresponsible” and warned the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha of suo motu action if he makes similar statements in the future.
"Does your client know that Mahatma Gandhi also used 'your faithful servant' while addressing the Viceroy? Does your client know that his grandmother (Indira Gandhi), when she was Prime Minister, also sent a letter praising the gentleman (Savarkar), the freedom fighter?"
Justice Datta asked Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who was representing the Congress MP.Justice Datta added, "He is a person of stature. He is a political leader of a political party. Why should you foment trouble like this? You go to Akola and make this statement in Maharashtra, where he (Savarkar) is worshipped? Don’t do this. Why do you make this statement?"
However, the apex court stayed the criminal defamation proceedings pending against Rahul Gandhi in a Lucknow court. The case involves allegedly defamatory remarks Gandhi made about Vinayak Damodar Savarkar during a press conference in Maharashtra in 2022.
Rahul Gandhi had then called VD Savarkar a “servant of the British” and their pensioner.Nirpendra Pandey, a lawyer in Uttar Pradesh, had filed a complaint against Gandhi, accusing him of making the comments “with the intention of spreading hatred in society.”
While the plea was dismissed initially, it was revived in 2023.
The court in Lucknow, which is hearing the plea, had summoned Rahul Gandhi in December 2024. The Congress MP had moved the Allahabad High Court for a stay on the summons, but the HC refused to grant him relief. After that, he approached the apex court in the matter.
