New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has issued notice to restrain historian Dr Audrey Truschke, Dr Ananya Chakravati, Associate Professor of History at Georgetown University, Dr Rohit Chopra, Associate Professor of Communications at Santa Clara University, Abhishek Baxi, freelance tech journalist, and Ashok Swain, Professor of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, Sweden from publishing defamatory content about Indian Historian and author Dr Vikram Sampath.
A bench of Justice Amit Bansal has directed to file the reply by April 1. Earlier, on February 11, historian Audrey Truschke and others wrote a letter to the Royal Historical Society(RHS) accusing Sampath of plagiarism in the biography of freedom fighter and Hindutva philosophy formulator Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. The bench said that the publication of the letter has been causing considerable damage to Sampath's reputation and career.
Meanwhile, in hearing, the High Court has also asked Twitter to remove the tweets related to this letter. Advocate Sajjan Powaiya, appearing for Twitter, said that it is only an intermediary and the posts will be removed if the petitioner gives them the weblink. During the hearing, advocate Raghav Awasthi, appearing for Sampath, said that the historian has given credit for the material taken from other writers in the book. Therefore, the allegation of stealing material is wrong and defamatory. He has also demanded a decree of damages of Rs 2 crore from Audrey Trushke and other defendants.
Sampath's plea contends that charges against him fall completely flat and are clearly libellous and the same is being done as part of an international smear campaign in order to discredit him because he has shown the academic courage and gumption to challenge the prevailing narrative around a historical figure like Savarkar.
(With agency inputs)
Also Read: Bengaluru: Narendra Modi lauds Vikram Sampath for his book 'Savarkar'
