Thu Sep 11 05:51:34 UTC 2025: **News Article:**
**Savarkar’s Grandnephew Seeks Court Summons for Rahul Gandhi Over Controversial Filing**
**Mumbai, September 11, 2025** – Satyaki Ashok Savarkar, the grandnephew of Hindutva ideologue V.D. Savarkar, has filed a petition in a Pune court demanding Congress leader Rahul Gandhi be summoned to personally verify the authenticity of legal applications filed in his name in an ongoing defamation case.
The move follows a retracted “Pursis” filed on August 13, 2025, by Gandhi’s legal team which suggested Gandhi felt threatened by followers of V.D. Savarkar. The document was swiftly withdrawn after the lawyer admitted to filing it without Gandhi’s consent.
Savarkar’s lawyer argues that this incident, along with previous applications, constitutes a deliberate attempt to tarnish V.D. Savarkar’s reputation and harass his family. The application objects to the withdrawn Pursis deliberately invoking the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi to conflate Hindutva with violence. It also objects to Mr. Gandhi’s alleged attempts to link the complainant’s late mother, Himani Savarkar, to the 2008 Malegaon blast case.
The application highlights that Gandhi has been granted exemption from personal appearance in court, but with the condition that his counsel regularly consult him. Savarkar’s representative claims that the unauthorized filing of the Pursis proves Gandhi violated this condition.
The petition argues that Gandhi is attempting to avoid accountability by blaming his lawyer for the controversial filing. It urges the court to compel Gandhi to confirm under oath whether he authorized previous applications and to mandate his personal attestation of all future filings.
The defamation case against Gandhi stems from a March 2023 speech in London, where he allegedly made false claims about V.D. Savarkar. The case is scheduled to resume on September 22, 2025.
First Piper 