Supreme Court Quashes Defamation Case Against Rahul Gandhi Over Savarkar Remarks

The Supreme Court of India on Friday, August 14, 2026, quashed a criminal defamation complaint and a summons issued against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, bringing to an end legal proceedings related to his 2022 remarks about Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. The bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu ruled that the required sanction for prosecution had not been obtained, a procedural flaw that invalidated the case.

The case originated from a complaint filed by advocate Nripendra Pandey in Uttar Pradesh. Pandey alleged that Gandhi, during his Bharat Jodo Yatra on November 17, 2022, made statements describing Savarkar as a collaborator with the British who received a pension from them. The complainant argued these remarks were made with the intent to incite hatred and were part of a conspiracy to defame the Hindutva ideologue.

Following the complaint, a magistrate court in Lucknow had summoned Gandhi in December 2024. The court observed that Gandhi's statements had spread ill will in society and found a prima facie case against him. Gandhi challenged this order, but the Allahabad High Court declined to intervene on April 4, 2025, directing him to seek remedy through a...