A Patiala court on Monday sentenced former MLA Simarjeet Singh Bains to one year of rigorous imprisonment in a criminal defamation case filed by senior Congress leader and former Punjab health minister Brahm Mohindra over allegations of irregularities in medicine procurement in 2018.
Chief judicial magistrate Ekta Sahota convicted Bains under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with criminal defamation.
During a press conference in 2018, Bains accused Mohindra, the then Punjab health minister, of a scam in the purchase of medicines. Bains also claimed that Mohindra owned a pharmaceutical company.
Thereafter, Bains wrote to then Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and then Congress president Rahul Gandhi, demanding Mohindra’s removal from the state cabinet and a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe against him.
Bains had alleged that Mohindra was pressing drug de-addiction centres to purchase a particular medicine at exorbitant rates. He had also alleged that tender terms and conditions were tweaked to benefit some multinational companies.
Mohindra filed a criminal defamation complaint against Bains on August 1, 2018, under Sections 499 and 500 of the IPC, alleging that the statements and videos circulated on social media had harmed his reputation.
{{/usCountry}}Mohindra filed a criminal defamation complaint against Bains on August 1, 2018, under Sections 499 and 500 of the IPC, alleging that the statements and videos circulated on social media had harmed his reputation.
{{/usCountry}}However, Bains was granted bail immediately after his conviction after furnishing the requisite bail bond.