BREAKING| Supreme Court Quashes Hate Speech Case Against Rahul Gandhi Over Comments Against Savarkar Due To Absence Of UP Govt Sanction

The Supreme Court on Friday quashed a private criminal complaint pending in Uttar Pradesh against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition, accusing him of spreading communal disharmony by defaming right-wing ideologue VD Savarkar.

A bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Sheel Nagu quashed the proceedings after noting that no sanction has been granted by the State of Uttar Pradesh for the prosecution.

Gandhi was challenging the summoning order passed by the trial court to face trial for the offences under Sections 153-A (promotion of enmity between groups) and 505 of the Indian Penal Code. He approached the Supreme Court after the Allahabad High Court refused to quash the proceedings.

Today, when the matter was taken up, Justice Datta asked if the State has given sanction. Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj, for the State, replied that there was no sanction. As per Section 196 CrPC, sanction of the State Government is necessary to take cognisance of an offence under Section 153A IPC. The counsel appearing for the complainant requested that if there is no sanction, the summoning order be set aside and the matter be remanded to the Magistrate for fresh consideration. The counsel said that he will take the required steps if sanction is necessary.

Justice Datta however pointed out that sanction is mandatory before taking cognizance. "If there is no sanction, that is the end of the matter," Justice Datta stated.

The bench then proceeded to order that the case has been quashed. "In the affidavit filed by the State of UP, there is no disclosure of sanction having been granted to prosecute the appellant-accused. In such view of the matter, the complaint and orders passed by the magistrate stand quashed," the bench observed.

Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi appeared for Gandhi.

Last year, the Supreme Court had stayed the proceedings. However,  while granting the stay, Justice Datta had orally expressed strong disapproval of the comments Gandhi had made on Savarkar and questioned if this is how the freedom fighters are to be treated. He stated that if such comments are repeated in future, the Court would initiate "suo motu" contempt against him.

Rahul Gandhi approached the Supreme Court after the Allahabad High Court refused relief on April 4, 2025. He was summoned by the Court as an accused in December 2024 over his speech at a press conference, where he allegedly said that Savarkar was a servant of the British and that he took a pension from the British.

A complaint case was filed by Advocate Nripendra Pandey claiming that Gandhi, with the intention of spreading hatred in society, called Savarkar a servant of the British and that he took a pension from the British.