A court in Pune on Thursday (July 3) rejected a petition by the grandnephew of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar wherein he sought access to a `book' cited by Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi while allegedly making defamatory remarks against Savarkar.

Judge Amol Shinde of the special court for MPs and MLAs said that Gandhi cannot be compelled to produce the book.

"The accused may produce any relevant documents during the presentation of his defense evidence. If the accused is compelled to produce such evidence prematurely, it would amount to violation of his fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 20(3) of the Constitution of India, which protects against self-incrimination," said the court order, reported Press Trust of India.

Earlier, the application was filed by Satyaki Savarkar who claimed that no such book as cited by Gandhi existed, and he should be asked to produce it if it did.

“As per Article 20(3)...'No person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself. Therefore, this Court is of the opinion that an order cannot be passed directing the accused to file the incriminating documents," said the court.

According to the complaint filed by Satyaki Savarkar, Gandhi had claimed during the speech in London in March 2023 that V.D. Savarkar had written in a "book" that "he and five to six of his friends once beat up a Muslim man, and he (Savarkar) felt happy".

The complainant claimed in the defamation case that no such incident took place and neither did Savarkar write about it.

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