MUMBAI: Ranjit Savarkar, a grandnephew of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, on Friday served a notice to the Congress, its president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi seeking an unconditional public apology for “defamatory” tweets on the official party Twitter handle. The
tweet had termed Savarkar a “traitor”, said the notice served through advocate Hitesh Jain. He sought an “unconditional public apology from the INC (Indian National Congress) on the same Twitter space within 48 hours” for the allegedly defamatory tweets.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said: “As and when we receive the notice, our legal team will deal with it.”
It is for the first time that a defamation notice has been issued to a political party for a tweet and the question it raises is whether an official party Twitter handle would make the party chief liable for any defamatory posts.
“Yes, we have sent the notice of defamation to Indian National Congress, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi,” said Jain. “This is pertaining to the official Twitter handle of INC, which calls Savarkar a
traitor. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi being office-bearers are responsible for the tweet on the official Twitter handle.”
Ranjit, a Dadar resident, is also the chairman of the public charitable trust Swatantryaveer Savarkar Rashtriya Smarak. He said the “defamatory tweets were published on March 5, 22 and 23”. His notice, a copy of which is with
TOI, said: “Late Shri Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, commonly known as “Swatantryaveer Savarkar”, was a fearless freedom fighter, social reformer, writer, dramatist, poet, historian, political leader and was the first political leader to daringly set Absolute Political Independence as India’s goal as far back as in the 1900...”
The notice said that if no unconditional apology is tweeted within 48 hours, the Congresss shall be “liable for appropriate legal action including criminal and civil defamation action”.
It has asked Sonia and Rahul Gandhi to confirm whether the tweets were published at their instance.