<p>Lucknow, Dec 13 (PTI) A local court here on Friday summoned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on January 10, 2025, to face trial for allegedly promoting enmity and disturbing harmony among people by making mischievous statements about freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.</p>
<p>Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Alok Verma passed the order on a criminal complaint filed by local lawyer Nripendra Pandey.</p>
<p>The court found that prima facie offences under sections 153(a) (promoting enmity between different groups) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were made out against Gandhi, also the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha.</p>
<p>The ACJM rejected the complaint on June 14, 2023, but the revisional court set aside the rejection order on October 3, 2024, and remanded the matter to the ACJM for passing a fresh order based on the material that had come on record in the complaint and statements of witnesses.</p>
<p>In the inquiry, police confirmed that Gandhi made the “objectionable” statement against Savarkar in Maharashtra and it was broadcast on television and other communication mediums.</p>
<p>The complaint in the case states that at a press conference during his Bharat Jodo Yatra in Akola, Maharashtra on November 17, 2022, Gandhi made serious remarks against Savarkar that spread communal disharmony, according to the order.</p>
<p>The complainant alleged that Gandhi called Savarkar “a servant of the British who received a pension from them” and distributed pamphlets to mediapersons to tarnish his image.</p>
<p>Passing the summoning order, the court observed, “The material presented demonstrates that Gandhi’s remarks, broadcast nationwide via TV and social media, were intended to spread hatred and enmity, undermining the nation’s unity”. </p>
<p><em><span style=”font-weight: 400;”>(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)</span></em></p>
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