New Delhi, Nov 11 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice on the plea by Union Minister and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan challenging a defamation case filed against him by Senior Advocate and Congress leader Vivek Tankha.
A Bench comprising Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice SVN Bhatti issued a notice, returnable in four weeks.
The Court exempted Chouhan and other BJP leaders from personal appearance before the trial court hearing the defamation suit filed by Tankha.
The Court clarified that the petitioner’s effective participation with counsel may be needed before the concerned Court but the respondents need not be subjected to bailable warrants”, the Court said.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court had in October upheld the trial court’s decision to take cognisance of the Senior Advocate’s defamation complaint against the Union Minister and former State Chief Minister, as well as two other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders.
Chouhan then filed an appeal before the Apex cCourt through advocate-on-record (AoR) Nikhil Jain.
Tankha, who is also a Member of Parliament (MP), filed the criminal defamation complaint against Chouhan, MP Vishnu Datt Sharma and Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Bhoopendra Singh earlier this year for allegedly defaming him concerning a case on State Panchayat elections heard by Supreme Court in 2021.
Senior Advocates Mahesh Jethmalani and Maninder Singh with Advocate-on-Record (AoR) Nikhil Jain appeared on behalf of Chouhan.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal and AoR Sumeer Sodhi appeared on behalf of Tankha.
