The Bombay High Court has ordered the transfer of multiple defamation suits filed by Goa-based right-wing group Sanatan Sanstha against Hamid Dabholkar, son of slain rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, and several journalists, from Goa to Maharashtra. The court held that the apprehension of threat expressed by the defendants was both “reasonable and genuine.”
Sanatan Sanstha had filed defamation suits in 2017 and 2018 before a Ponda court in Goa, alleging that Hamid and several scribes, including journalist Nikhil Wagle, had made defamatory statements against the outfit, thereby damaging its reputation. The defendants, however, sought a transfer of the proceedings outside Goa, citing fear for their safety due to the organisation’s strong presence in the state.
In an order dated September 3, made public on September 4, Justice N J Jamadar accepted the plea for transfer. The bench observed that the history of hostility between the Sanatan Sanstha and the applicants, coupled with the murders of prominent critics of the organisation, substantiated the fears raised by the petitioners.
“If the animosity bordering on enmity between the Sanatan Sanstha and the applicants is considered, then the apprehension raised by the petitioners in their pleas are reasonable and genuine,” Justice Jamadar noted.
The High Court directed that the defamation suits be shifted to a court in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra “in the interest of justice.” However, at the Sanstha’s request, the operation of the order has been stayed for six weeks.
Justice Jamadar referred to findings of the Pune Sessions Court, which in 2024 convicted two persons for the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, gunned down in Pune in August 2013. The trial court had concluded that Sanatan Sanstha and other right-wing organisations were bitterly opposed to Dabholkar’s campaign against superstition, and witnesses had established connections between the accused and the Sanstha.
Although the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) failed to identify the mastermind behind the killing, the trial court’s findings were held to be sufficient to instil fear in the minds of the applicants.
The High Court also highlighted that other prominent critics of the Sanstha and similar ideologies — activist Govind Pansare (murdered in February 2015), scholar M M Kalburgi (August 2015), and journalist Gauri Lankesh (September 2017) — had met violent ends. This context, the bench observed, added weight to the concerns raised by Hamid Dabholkar and the journalists.
Hamid Dabholkar, who testified as a prosecution witness in his father’s murder trial, continues to remain outspoken against the Sanatan Sanstha’s ideology. The court said his role, along with his consistent criticism of the outfit, further amplified the risks of holding trial in Goa.
