Court orders inquiry into Savarkar's grandson's complaint

A Mumbai court has asked the police to conduct an inquiry into a complaint of defamation against Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and the party for allegedly calling Veer Savarkar a "traitor" in 2016.

The complaint was filed by Ranjit Savarkar, grandson of the Hindutva ideologue, in Bhoiwada magistrate's court.

It named Rahul Gandhi, his mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and the Congress party for allegedly defaming his grand-father Vinayak Damodar Savarkar on Twitter.

"On March 5, 22 and 23, 2016, the official Twitter account of the Congress....published four tweets in pictorial forms, along with comments, calling Savarkar a traitor," the complaint said.

The tweets also stated that Savarkar had begged for mercy from the British government (when he was lodged in Cellular Jail in Andaman) and he wanted to be a slave of the British Raj, the complaint alleged.

Rahul Gandhi and his party, thus, tried to "lower the moral and intellectual character" of the freedom fighter, Ranjit Savarkar said in the plaint.

The court, in order on July 9, directed Shivaji Park police station to conduct an inquiry and submit a report.

"Concerned police station to conduct inquiry under section 202 of CrPC and submit report," the court said.

Ranjit Savarkar said he came to know about the court order only on Tuesday.

The inquiry under section 202 of Code of Criminal Procedure is ordered for "the purpose of deciding whether or not there is sufficient ground for proceeding" on a complaint.

Rahul Gandhi is already facing number of defamation cases, including two in Mumbai.

In one case, an RSS worker has dragged him to court for allegedly linking the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh to ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and BJP, while the other case is about his remark against prime minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale fighter jet deal.