Pune: A special court Friday granted bail to the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case filed against him by Satyaki Savarkar, grandnephew of Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. The case allegedly revolved around Gandhi's objectionable remarks on Veer Savarkar in a speech he delivered in London in March 2023.
Gandhi appeared via video conferencing around 5:45 PM after his plea was approved. His lawyer Milind Pawar then filed the bail application. The court asked for a written response from Satyaki’s lawyer Sangram Kolhatkar who said Gandhi should not be allowed to speak against Veer Savarkar during the ongoing defamation trial.
But the court cannot impose conditions in a bailable offence case. Gandhi was granted bail on a personal bond of ₹25,000 with Pune Congress leader Mohan Joshi as surety. The case will come up for hearing on February 18 when Gandhi’s statement will be recorded.
Gandhi appeared via video conferencing around 5:45 PM after his plea was approved. His lawyer Milind Pawar then filed the bail application. The court asked for a written response from Satyaki’s lawyer Sangram Kolhatkar who said Gandhi should not be allowed to speak against Veer Savarkar during the ongoing defamation trial.
But the court cannot impose conditions in a bailable offence case. Gandhi was granted bail on a personal bond of ₹25,000 with Pune Congress leader Mohan Joshi as surety. The case will come up for hearing on February 18 when Gandhi’s statement will be recorded.
Milan Pawar cited four judgements by the apex court to support his plea for video-conference in the court.
He said that these judgments allow an accused to appear via video conferencing. He also referred to a December 29, 2024, state government resolution to allow video conferencing in courts.
Pawar argued that bringing Gandhi to court in person would put a financial burden on the state due to his high-security status. The plea was filed under Section 205 of CrPC.
Kolhatkar said courts do not allow accused to appear in the first hearing via video conferencing. Earlier Kolhatkar had said, "We will examine the special court's order vis-à-vis video conferencing permission and take a call on filing a criminal revision application before a Pune sessions court. We feel the SC rulings cited by Gandhi's lawyer make no mention that an accused can appear via video conferencing. An accused cannot be produced via such mode, especially in bail proceedings, and Gandhi has a tendency to defame Veer Savarkar. He has been convicted by a Gujarat court for a similar offence and is out on bail in that matter, pending before the Supreme Court."
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