Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Supreme Court on Wednesday asked Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Congress Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha to amicably settle the defamation case lodged by Congress lawmaker against the senior BJP leader.
Congress leader Tankha has alleged that Chouhan, BJP state president V D Sharma and former minister Bhupendra Singh carried out a “coordinated, malicious, false and defamatory” campaign against him for political mileage by accusing him of opposing OBC reservation in the 2021 panchayat elections in Madhya Pradesh.
“Please do not make us hear this case. Let us close it. Both of you sit together and settle this,” a bench comprising Justices MM Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal told senior advocates Mahesh Jethmalani and Kapil Sibal, appearing for Chouhan and Tankha respectively.
The top court was hearing Chouhan’s appeal against Madhya Pradesh High Court order last year refusing to quash the defamation case. On Wednesday, the bench advised both senior advocates to settle the case. “If he (Chouhan) expresses regret, I am willing to settle the defamation case,” Sibal said.
“Why should the minister regret if there is no wrong,” Jethmalani replied, adding that he personally had no problem in sitting with Sibal to discuss the case. The bench, which was conducting the proceedings through video conferencing, deferred the hearing to May 21.
Tankha, in his complaint to trial court, had said defamatory statements were made in the run-up to panchayat elections in the state in 2021. He alleged that following the December 17, 2021, order of the apex court it was alleged by the BJP leaders that he had opposed the reservation for OBC community in the local body polls, which damaged his reputation.
Tankha’s plea sought ?10 crore compensation and initiation of criminal defamation proceedings against the BJP leader. On January 20, 2024, a special court in Jabalpur agreed to examine the defamation case against 3 BJP leaders under Section 500 (punishment for defamation) of the IPC and summoned them.
