India, July 12 -- Congress Member of Parliament and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday pleaded not guilty in a defamation case filed against him over his remarks about Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar. The plea was formally recorded on Gandhi's behalf by his counsel Advocate Milind Pawar in the Special MP-MLA court as Gandhi was not personally present for the hearing.

The proceedings took place before the Judicial Magistrate (First Class) and Special Judge for MP-MLA cases Amol Shinde where he read out the charges against Gandhi in open court, following which Advocate Pawar submitted a not guilty plea on Gandhi's behalf.

"The matter about the defamation case against Gandhi was fixed for recording of plea. Today, ...