The Supreme Court of India on Friday (Apr 25) slammed Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi over his controversial comments on Veer Savarkar and asked him, "How can you make such irresponsible statements about freedom fighters?"

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Accepting Gandhi's petition to quash a 2022 defamation case filed against him over his alleged derogatory remarks about freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the top court warned him to avoid making any such statements.

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This comes as Gandhi, a Congress party leader, petitioned the Indian top court to quash the summons against him.

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What did the Supreme Court say?

Expressing strong displeasure at Gandhi's remarks, the SC said: "Veer Savarkar is a freedom fighter. You are calling them servants of the English. How can you make such irresponsible statements about freedom fighters?".

"You are going to Maharashtra and giving such statements. Savarkar is worshipped in Maharashtra," noted the court.

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The court said that Mahatma Gandhi had used the term 'your faithful servant' in a letter to his viceroy, and remarked, "So according to you, they also became the servants of the English".

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"Does he (know) that even Mahatma Gandhi used the words 'your faithful servant'?. Does he know his grandmother also sent a letter to the freedom fighter praising him?...You cannot make such statements without knowing history or geography of freedom fighters," warned the Court said, while addressing Gandhi's lawyer, Senior Counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

It further said that it was ready to stay the summons issued against Gandhi, but warned him to "refrain from making any further statement".

"If you make such a statement, the court will take cognisance of it," warned the top court.

What did Rahul Gandhi say about Veer Savarkar?

In November 2022, Raul Gandhi allegedly passed defamatory comments on Savarkar at a rally in Maharashtra's Akola. Advocate Nripendra Pandey, who filed a complaint against Gandhi, alleged that on November 17, 2022, during his Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Congress leader referred to Savarkar as a collaborator with the British and further stated that the freedom fighter received a pension from the British.