Gandhi killing: Savarkar kin to move HC to drop parts of probe panel report

The grandson of V D Savarkar will move the Bombay High Court seeking direction for deletion of "adverse reference" made by a Commission which probed the conspiracy behind Mahatma Gandhi's assassination, claiming the observation tarnishes his image.

Ranjit Savarkar said the inquiry commission, headed by Justice Jivanlal Kapur, had wrongly described Gandhi's killers Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte as Savarkar's followers.

Ranjit today said he will file a suit in the HC demanding dropping of chapter 25 in the report of the panel, constituted to unearth conspiracy behind the assassination.

In this chapter, Kapur observed Investigation Officer J D Nagarwala had neglected the available evidence while investigating the conspiracy. A statement in the report, which runs into hundreds of pages, is often used by Savarkar's detractors to brand him as the main conspirator behind Gandhi's murder though Kapur had exonerated him of conspiracy charges for want of corroborative evidence, he said.

The Commission was formed six months after Savarkar's death in February 1966. It submitted report in November 1969.

Ranjit said this sentence in the report was an observation and not conclusion. "Kapur had irresponsibly written the sentence. He deliberately called Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte as Veer Savarkar's followers. The fact is he had snapped ties with Godse two years before the assassination (on Jan 30, 1948)."

This observation tarnishes Savarkar's image as a great patriot, he said. He said he was keen to moderate the Kapur Commission's report because he wanted to expose the Congress' "conspiracy" to defame Savarkar.

He claimed the law permitted removal of certain portions of a judicial commission report if concrete evidence is produced to establish they are incorrect.

"The Commission report was not available in digital format. We have digitised it now. I have consulted legal advisors. They have asked me to go ahead with the suit," Ranjit said, without specifying when he will file the suit.

Asked about the Shiv Sena's demand for conferring Bharat Ratna on Savarkar, Ranjit said neither his family nor the Savarkar National Trust was pitching for the country's highest civilian award for him.