A Sessions court in Mumbai has rejected the revision application of lyricist Javed Akhtar, challenging summons issued by a Magistrate’s Court in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) defamation case.
“The statement of the petitioner (Akhtar) in the interview was on a national channel and YouTube. The reputation of volunteers, and supporters of RSS, is tarnished and a message is given to the world that RSS is similar to the Taliban in Afghanistan. Thus, there is sufficient material to show the reputation of RSS is lowered,” the Sessions court noted.
The words uttered by the accused in his interview definitely carry weightage and are heard by the public at large,” it further added. The Sessions Court also observed that the Magistrate Court was right in its application of mind and held that there was prima facie evidence for defamation.
“The accused is a highly renowned person against whom the process is issued. So also RSS is well-known in the nation with enormous followers and supporters. At the same time, Taliban and its activities are known worldwide, on which the interview of the accused was focused,” it emphasised.
The Background of the Case
The original case was filed by an RSS volunteer and advocate named Santosh Dubey before the Magistrate’s court after Akhtar compared the Hindu rights organisation with the radical Islamist outfit, Taliban in a 2021 interview with NDTV.
“The way the Taliban are trying to build a Muslim nation. In the same way, some people present the concept of Hindu Rashtra to us. These people have the same mentality. The Taliban are violent. Are wild. But the people who support RSS, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal have the same mentality,” Akhtar had said.
After the summons was issued by the Magistrate’s Court, the lyricist approached the Sessions Court in Mumbai under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) Sections 397 and 399. In a revision application, he claimed that Santosh Dubey has no locus standi in the case.
“There are no allegations against the petitioner either specific or general but just the fact that he expressed his thoughts over something does not constitute an offence of defamation and it does not give any right to the complainant to file a complaint,” his application read.