New Delhi: Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Saturday filed a defamation case against Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in a Delhi court over the latter’s “misleading statements” against him.
Shekhawat claimed that Gehlot made defamatory statements against him in connection with the Sanjivani Credit Society scam.
The Union Minister has said that an investigation was initiated in the case but his name was not mentioned anywhere.
Shekhawat has demanded prosecution against Gehlot under the IPC sections.
The Union Minister has also demanded appropriate financial compensation for the loss of his reputation.
He sought prosecution against the Rajasthan Chief Minister, saying Gehlot should be charged with criminal defamation under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Senior advocate Vikas Pahwa represented Shekhawat in court on Saturday.
Earlier, the war of words between Gehlot and Shekhawat had intensified over the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam as Gehlot has openly declared the Union Minister “a culprit like the others”.
Taking a dig at Shekhawat, Gehlot said: “The Union Minister is trying to mislead the public in the case of the Sanjivani Co-operative Society Limited scam. In the investigation of the Special Operation Group (SOG), the crime has been proved against him under the same sections as the other arrested accused.”
Shekhawat had said that Gehlot terming him as an ‘accused’ in the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam is akin to his “political assassination to settle scores”.
He said: “The SOG presented three chargesheets but there is neither my nor my family’s name anywhere. Still, the Chief Minister called me an accused.”
–IANS