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Congress leader sues Shivraj Chouhan for defamation, asks court to order FIR
Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and other BJP leaders blamed Vivek Tankha for the Supreme Court ruling last month that blocked Madhya Pradesh’s effort to hold panchayat elections in the state with reservation for other backward classes
JABALPUR/BHOPAL: Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha has filed a criminal defamation complaint in Jabalpur court against Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, BJP state president VD Sharma and the state urban development minister Bhupendra Singh for their “incorrect statements” on the OBC reservation case in the Supreme Court.
Chouhan and other BJP leaders blamed Tankha for the Supreme Court ruling last month that blocked Madhya Pradesh’s effort to hold panchayat elections in the state with reservation for other backward classes (OBC).
Former advocate general Shashank Shekhar, who appeared for Vivek Tankha said chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and other BJP leaders, VD Sharma and Bhupendra Singh, “made objectionable statements” about Tankha which tarnished his image.
The case has been filed in the Jabalpur district court demanding that a first information report be registered against the three persons under section 499 (defamation) of IPC, he said.
Earlier on December 19, Tankha sent a legal notice to Chouhan and others seeking an apology over their attempt to belittle Tankha on and off social media by “propagating incorrect facts” of the court proceedings on the OBC reservation case.
The top court stayed OBC quota in panchayat polls in Madhya Pradesh after Congress leader Manmohan Nagar, president of Bhopal Jila Panchayat, moved the SC, claiming that the state government violated constitutional provisions on reservation rotation and delimitation for Panchayat polls.
Tankha represented Nagar in the top court.
BJP leaders targeted Tankha and the Congress, saying that the top court verdict which they said, led to injustice against OBCs was delivered because the Congress went to the court in the first place.
Madhya Pradesh BJP media in-charge Lokendra Parashar said, “We will continue to work in the favour of different communities with exposing the real face of Congress leaders. They are free to do anything to save their image but now they have exposed themselves in front of common men.”
