The Supreme Court on Monday gave relief to Union Minister and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, BJP state president VD Sharma, and former minister Bhupendra Singh in a defamation case. The apex court exempted the three senior BJP leaders from appearing during the hearing at the lower court.
Supreme Court issued notice to Congress Rajya Sabha member and senior advocate Vivek Krishna Tankha, who had filed a defamation complaint seeking Rs 10 crore in damages in the MPMLA Court in Jabalpur.
Tankha accused Shivraj of making derogatory statements against him during the Madhya Pradesh Panchayat elections.
The union minister reached the Supreme Court demanding the cancellation of the case, days after the Madhya Pradesh High Court had rejected his demand.
The Congress leader alleged that the trio had damaged his reputation by making statements against him in the media.
The controversy occurred after the Supreme Court had junked 27 per cent OBC reservation in the Panchayat elections in Madhya Pradesh in 2021.
Tankha had moved the court on behalf of the petitioners regarding rotation and delimitation in the Panchayat and civic elections. It is alleged that the BJP leaders had made statements against him, calling him anti-OBC.
