Hyderabad:

A special court here on Thursday issued summons to Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy asking him to appear personally before it on September 25 over a criminal defamation case filed by a BJP leader accusing him of making false and baseless allegations against the saffron party during the recent Lok Sabha election campaign.

The Special Judicial First Class Magistrate (JFCM) for Excise Cases here, after considering the documents filed by the complainant and after examining the witnesses and hearing the arguments of the counsel for the complainant, issued summons to Reddy for offences under Sections 499, 171C, 171G, 153 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 125 of the Representation of Peoples Act to appear in person before the court on September 25.

Telangana BJP General Secretary Kasam Venkateshwarlu had earlier filed a complaint in the Special JFCM for Excise cases, accusing the chief minister of making statements during an Lok Sabha election meeting in Bhadradri Kothagudem district on May 4 that the BJP, if voted to power, would change the Constitution and abolish reservations.

The petitioner claimed it was misleading and false and that the statement had defamed the party and party workers.

In the complaint, the BJP further claimed that the statements made by Reddy caused harm to the reputation of the party in the eyes of the voters, and making such “false statements with intent to unduly influence voters” amounts to election offences under the law.

After examination of the complainant and another person, and after going through the complaint and the statements and material placed before the Special JFCM for Excise cases, on August 21 it felt that a prima facie case is made out against the accused for the offence under section 499 of IPC and Section 125 of the Representation of Peoples Act.

Earlier, after the Special JFCM for Excise cases had adjourned the complaint, the BJP leader approached the Telangana High Court with a criminal petition seeking direction to the lower court to inquire into his complaint.

In June, the Telangana High Court had directed the Special Judicial First Class Magistrate (JFCM) for Excise Cases to conduct proceedings and decide the complaint expeditiously in accordance with the law.

The high court disposed of the criminal petition directing the magistrate to hear the petition on a day-to-day basis and expedite the proceedings on the complaint.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has issued a legal notice to Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut over a “defamatory” article which claimed that Mr Shinde tried to ensure the defeat of ally NCP’s candidates in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Sanjay Raut shared on X the legal notice dated May 28, adding that it was a “very interesting” and “funny political document”. Sources close to the chief minister confirmed that such a notice has been issued.

The notice said that in his column in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ on May 26, Mr Raut made a false statement that Chief Minister Shinde spent “unlimited amount of money” and distributed crores of rupees in each constituency. The article further claimed that Mr Shinde did all this to ensure the defeat of the candidates of the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party, it said.

These statements were not only false but “defamatory and scandalous”, and made to mislead the people and create unrest, the notice said.

“The defamatory news article has been published by you to get name, fame and political mileage for yourself and your so-called leader Shri Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray,” it said, asking Mr Raut to produce evidence to back his allegations.

If he could not do so, the Rajya Sabha member should apologise within three days or face criminal and civil proceedings, the notice said.

The BJP, Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP are partners in the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the state.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Sultanpur:

An MP-MLA court here has fixed a June 7 hearing in the 2018 defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his alleged objectionable remarks against Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The defamation complaint against Mr Gandhi was filed by BJP leader Vijay Mishra.

Mr Gandhi’s lawyer Kashi Prasad Shukla gave an application in the court, saying the Congress leader was busy campaigning for Lok Sabha polls and needed time to appear before the court.

Judge Shubham Verma fixed June 7 as the next date of hearing.

Plaintiff’s lawyer Santosh Kumar Pandey told the court that Mr Gandhi is running away from the court.

The court had issued a warrant against Mr Gandhi in December last. Subsequently, the Congress leader had halted his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Amethi on February 20 and appeared in court which granted him bail.

The complaint was filed here on August 4, 2018, against Mr Gandhi for his alleged objectionable comments against Mr Shah at a press conference in Bengaluru.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)