Pune: A Pune court on Friday rejected professor Pankaj K Phadnis’s application to intervene in the private criminal defamation case filed by Satyaki Savarkar against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over alleged remarks concerning freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
In its August 14 order, the court noted that the complainant’s cross-examination was already underway and that the intervention plea had consumed valuable judicial time.
The court clarified that the proceedings are concerned with the legal and evidentiary issues arising from the alleged defamatory statements, and are not meant to determine broader historical or political questions concerning Savarkar. It also noted that he was neither a member of Savarkar’s family nor his near relative, and therefore could not claim standing in a defamation case concerning a deceased person.
The court examined Section 302 and Section 199 of the CrPC and held that Phadnis was not an “aggrieved person”.
Phadnis had sought to intervene citing more than 25 years of research on Savarkar, three books and historical documents that he said could assist the court. Both Satyaki Savarkar and Rahul Gandhi opposed the plea, arguing that Phadnis was neither the complainant nor the accused and had no legally recognised interest in the case.
