Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar filed 10 mercy petitions before the British colonial administration seeking that his sentence be reduced, his grandnephew Satyaki Savarkar told a Pune court on Monday during a criminal defamation trial against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Live Law reported.

The statements were made during Satyaki Savarkar’s cross-examination before Special Judge Amol Shinde.

The case pertains to a complaint filed by Satyaki Savarkar in April 2023 against Gandhi, accusing him of making false and malicious remarks about the Hindutva ideologue during an event in London in March 2023.

During the hearing on Monday, Satyaki Savarkar said that “it is true to say that Savarkar had filed a clemency petition ten times” adding that records of the mercy petitions were available in government archives, Live Law reported.

However, he rejected the suggestion that filing clemency petitions was inconsistent with the Hindutva ideologue’s title of “veer”, or heroic.

Satyaki Savarkar also acknowledged that several other freedom fighters of the period, including Rajguru, Bhagat Singh, Batukeshwar Dutt and Ashfaqulla Khan, did not submit clemency petitions.

“It is true to say that Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt remained steadfast in their ideology and principles until the very end,” Live Law quoted Satyaki Savarkar as saying. “I am aware that revolutionist Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt did not compromise on their principles and ideologies in their dealings with the British right to the end.”

Satyaki Savarkar also accepted that Savarkar had filed a mercy petition within a month of being sentenced.

He further stated that clemency petitions were part of “a standard procedure under the British government” and that many prisoners used the mechanism to seek remission or reduction of sentences.

“It is true to say that, filing a clemency petition was neither exceptional nor illegal,” he added. “It is not true to say that the language Savarkar used in that clemency petition was one of humility.”

Satyaki Savarkar maintained that the wording followed official procedure and did not contain “words expressing loyalty to the British government”, Live Law reported.

He further told the court that the British government rejected all of Savarkar’s petitions and feared that he would rejoin revolutionary activities if released.

The cross-examination will continue on July 1.

Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.

Also read: Fact check: Did VD Savarkar write mercy petitions on Gandhi’s advice, as Rajnath Singh claimed?