Ashok Gehlot summoned: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has been summoned by a Delhi court in a defamation case filed by Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat for allegedly making defamatory statements against him in connection with the Rs 900-crore Sanjivani Society scam. The Chief Minister has been asked to appear before the court on August 7.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Harjeet Singh Jaspal said the “accused prima facie made defamatory imputations against the complainant, knowing and intending to harm his reputation”.
Gehlot trying to tarnish his image
The case pertains to an alleged scam that investors of the Sanjeevani Credit Cooperative Society were defrauded of Rs 900 crore. In his complaint, Shekhawat has claimed that Gehlot has been making defamatory remarks against him over the alleged scam and trying to tarnish his image and affect his political career.
“Having considered the facts and circumstances, the testimonies of the complainant witnesses, the evidence placed on record, it prima facie appears that the accused has made specific defamatory statements against the complainant. Further, it prima facie appears that the aforesaid defamatory statements of the accused have been sufficiently published in newspaper/ electronic media/social media, which may make the right thinking members of the society shun the complainant,” the judge noted.
“It appears that the accused by his spoken words and by words which were intended to be read, has made defamatory imputations against the complainant, knowing and intending to harm the reputation of the complainant. Ergo, in view of the aforesaid discussion there exists sufficient grounds to summon the accused Ashok Gehlot,” the judge said.
The Rouse Avenue Court had earlier directed the police to investigate Shekhawat's complaint. Union Jal Shakti Minister calimed that his name did not appear anywhere when the Rajasthan government probed the case and demanded prosecution against Gehlot for criminal defamation under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
(With agencies input)
