Special court in city to hear defamation case against Rahul Gandhi

Pune: One of the four new special courts in the district, set up to try sitting and former elected representatives like MPs and MLAs facing criminal charges, will on Oct 4 hear the defamation case against Congress leader of opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi in the city.The case, filed by Satyaki Savarkar, great grandnephew of late freedom fighter Vinayak Savarkar, was till recently being heard by a magisterial court.As per the Supreme Court's directives in 2015 and a Bombay high court notification of 2024, four new special courts to try criminal cases against elected representatives have been set up in Pune, Vadgaon Maval, Baramati and Indapur. Pune's principal district and sessions judge Mahendra Mahajan issued a circular on Sept 18, stating that these special courts are to be presided over by judicial officers of the rank of civil judge junior division-cum-judicial magistrate first class.Judicial officer Amol Shinde will head the special court in Pune while Savita Mali, Durga Pujari and Mujahedul Haque Hafeezul Farooqui will preside over the special courts at Vadgaon Maval, Baramati and Indapur, respectively, the circular stated. It further added that as per the Criminal Procedure Code and Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, the four judicial officers have been designated as special court judges to expedite trials in criminal cases filed against elected and former politicians pending before magisterial courts.A court official, requesting anonymity, said there are seven cases filed against former or sitting MPs/MLAs, including the one against Rahul Gandhi in Pune.Rahul Gandhi's lawyer, Asim Sarode, said, "A magisterial court had earlier issued summons to Rahul Gandhi in the defamation case filed by Satyaki Savarkar. Now, since the case has been transferred to the special court, we would be appealing to the judge to decide if there is a prima facie case or not before framing charges against him."