MP court issues notices to CM, two others in defamation case filed by Cong RS member

A court on Monday issued notices to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and two others in a civil defamation suit of Rs 10 crore filed against them by Congress Rajya Sabha MP and senior lawyer Vivek Tankha.

The 8th Additional District Judge Vivek Patel served notices on Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, state BJP chief V D Sharma and state Urban Administration minister Bhupendra Singh and has asked the respondents to file their replies by February 25, said Tankha's counsel Wajid Hyder.

The respondents made certain defamatory statements against Tankha in connection with the OBC reservation case in the Supreme Court, which damaged his reputation, the counsel said.

The complaint alleges these persons defamed the Congress Rajya Sabha member by propagating incorrect facts about the proceedings of the OBC quota case in the apex court, he said.

During the tenure of the then Congress government, the OBC quota was introduced in the three-tier panchayats system, Hyder said.

The apex court stayed the OBC quota in panchayat polls in Madhya Pradesh after Congress leader Manmohan Nagar, who is president of Bhopal Jila Panchayat, moved the SC claiming the state government had violated Constitutional provisions on reservation rotation and delimitation. Tankha was Nagar's lawyer. BJP leaders in the state then alleged the Congress was against the OBCs, with minister Bhupendra Singh claiming the stay came about because the opposition party dragged the issue to court.