Satyaki Savarkar, grandnephew of Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, told a Pune court on Monday, August 17, that Nathuram Godse and his brother Gopal Godse were “active members” of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He made the statement while being cross-examined in the criminal defamation case he has filed against Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.
Satyaki, who is the complainant in the case, was cross-examined by Rahul Gandhi’s lawyer, advocate Milind D Pawar, before Special Judge Amol Shinde.
During the proceedings, Satyaki also acknowledged that his maternal grandfather Gopal Godse and granduncle Vinayak Savarkar were among those accused in the Gandhi assassination case.
“It is true to say that my grandfather Gopal Godse and Nathuram Godse were active members of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh,” Satyaki said during the cross-examination, according to Live Law.
Satyaki said that Nathuram Godse was a member of the Hindu Mahasabha. He also said that his maternal grandfather Gopal Godse and Savarkar had been associated with the organisation.
Satyaki, however, said he did not know whether the RSS's second chief, Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, and Digambar Badge were also accused in the Gandhi assassination case, Bar and Bench reported.
During the cross-examination, Satyaki said that Savarkar became active in politics after his release from British imprisonment and served as president of the Hindu Mahasabha from 1937 to 1943.
His lawyer, Sangram Kothalkar, objected to several questions relating to the RSS and the circumstances surrounding Gandhi’s assassination, arguing that they were not relevant to the defamation case. The court said it would consider the objections at the time of the final judgment.
Satyaki also claimed during his deposition that Gandhi lay unattended for around 20 minutes after being shot, alleging that this reflected “the apathy of the government at that time towards Gandhiji”.
Satyaki filed a criminal defamation case over the speech delivered by Rahul Gandhi in London on March 5, 2023, in which he allegedly made remarks about Vinayak Savarkar.
According to Satyaki’s complaint, Gandhi had claimed that Savarkar had written about assaulting a Muslim man and finding the act pleasurable. Satyaki has disputed the existence of any such account in Savarkar’s writings and accused Gandhi of making false and defamatory statements intended to damage Savarkar’s reputation.
He has sought Rahul Gandhi’s conviction under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with punishment for defamation, as well as compensation under Section 357 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The case is currently at the stage of Satyaki’s cross-examination and will also continue on September 1.
Meanwhile, Satyaki’s lawyer has separately moved an application seeking an order for collection of Rahul Gandhi’s voice sample. The application seeks to compare Gandhi’s voice with the audio recording of the London speech submitted as evidence in the case.