Google submits Rahul Gandhi's YouTube video details in Savarkar defamation case
Google LLC has submitted details of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's YouTube channel and a specific video to the special MP/MLA court in Pune, which is hearing a defamation case filed by Satyaki Savarkar, grandnephew of Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar.
The case stems from a speech Rahul Gandhi delivered in London on March 5, 2023. Satyaki has alleged that during the speech, Rahul made defamatory remarks against V D Savarkar. As evidence, Satyaki had earlier submitted news reports, a YouTube link to the speech, and a compact disc containing the video. However, when the CD was played during Satyaki's chief examination in November last year, it was found to be blank.
Following this, the court on December 18, 2025, allowed Satyaki's application directing YouTube LLC and Google to produce the original video available on the YouTube link titled 'Indians abroad and shining examples of our culture of respect I Interaction with Diaspora in London', dated March 5, 2023, published on Rahul Gandhi's official YouTube channel. The court also sought metadata such as upload date and time, URL, unique video ID, hash value and digital signature.
On Thursday, advocate Dhairyasheel Patil, representing Google, submitted the requested information on a pen drive. Patil said the complete metadata and system-generated records pertaining to the video were handed over to the court. He added that since Google is based in the United States, the original video cannot be shared with the court in Pune due to US laws. The court was informed that the video remains accessible on Rahul Gandhi's YouTube channel.
In the disputed speech, Rahul Gandhi had allegedly said that Savarkar wrote a book stating that he and some of his friends felt delighted to beat up a Muslim. Satyaki has maintained that V D Savarkar never wrote any such book, nor did such an incident ever take place.
As per the court's direction, the Pune City police conducted an inquiry and submitted a report on May 27, 2024, stating that Rahul Gandhi had allegedly defamed Savarkar in his London speech. Rahul Gandhi has pleaded not guilty in the case.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi's counsel Milind Pawar cross-examined Satyaki on Thursday on V D Savarkar's book 'Vidnyannishtha Nibandh'. In a separate application filed the same day, Satyaki's lawyer Sangram Kolhatkar accused Rahul Gandhi of adopting 'dilatory tactics to prolong the matter' and of taking 'undue advantage of conversion of the complaint from summary case to summons case'. The application sought a direction to Rahul Gandhi to submit a strict time-table for concluding the cross-examination.
The application said Satyaki's cross-examination has been ongoing for the last seven months, causing him 'severe harassment and mental agony'. It also stated that many of the questions being asked are 'merely repetitive and irrelevant' and not related to the subject matter. The application cited Supreme Court observations that pendency in trials should be avoided, especially in a case being tried by the special MP/MLA court.
The court has asked Rahul Gandhi's counsel to file a response to this application, and the matter is scheduled for further hearing on August 4.
