A Pune court on Monday an application filed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to convert the nature of the trial in a case in which he is accused of defaming Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar from a summary trial to a summons trial, Bar and Bench reported.

This will enable Gandhi to present historical records in the court to back his statements in the matter.

The case to a complaint filed by VD Savarkar’s grand-nephew Satyaki Savarkar in April 2023 against Gandhi, accusing the Congress leader of making fictitious, false and malicious remarks about the Hindutva ideologue.

Satyaki Savarkar alleged that Gandhi had made the remarks “fully knowing the said allegations to be untrue, with the specific objective of harming the reputation and to defame the surname Savarkar…”

On February 18, Gandhi filed an application in the special MP/MLA court in Pune to convert the nature of the trial in the case from a summary trial to a summons trial.

A summons trial entails detailed cross-examination and is a lengthy legal proceeding as compared to a summary trial.

On Monday, Judicial Magistrate Amol Shriram Shinde noted that Gandhi had claimed that his statements were based on historical facts, Bar and Bench reported.

“Therefore, in my view it is undesirable to try this case as a summary trial,” Bar and Bench quoted...