Politicians have no right to tarnish lawyers' image: Kapil Sibal on Vivek Tankha's defamation case

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh High Court on Saturday conducted hearing in a defamation case against former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, former Minister Bhupendra Singh Yadav and State BJP President V.D. Sharma.

The case was filed by Congress Rajya Sabha MP and senior advocate Vivek Tankha, who alleged that the trio BJP leaders have made false allegations against him regarding the OBC reservation.

The case was filed earlier in January 2022.

Senior and renowned advocate Kapil Sibal represented for Tankha during the hearing in the court on Saturday.

The case was heard in the court of Justice Sanjay Dwivedi.

After the hearing was over, advocate Sibal said, "It's not about Vivek Tankha only, but about all the advocates who exercise their duty in the courts."

"We (Tankha) filed a petition against the Madhya Pradesh government's ordinance regarding the municipal body elections, and not against the OBC reservation quota," Sibal said talking to the press after the court hearing in Jabalpur on Saturday.

He claimed that the trio (Shivraj, Bhupendra and VD) had told the court that case was filed on the basis of media reports, and the news reports have not quoted them line-by-line. However, the court wasn't satisfied with their reply.

"This is the case between practicing lawyers and the politicians. If the politicians, who are on top posts, would make such baseless allegation and would try to tarnish a professional's image, then we have to take a stand against them," Sibal added.

Vivek Tankha, who was also present in the court with Sibal, said he was satisfied with the court's hearing.

"Kapil Sibal gave detailed explanation about defamation during the hearing. The subject (referring OBC reservation) was serious, therefore, they shouldn't have made false statements," Tankha said.

Saturday's hearing in the High Court was against an MP-MLA Court's order for filing a case against Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Bhupendra Singh Yadav and V. D. Sharma in a defamation suit.

The case was filed by Vivek Tankha, who accused the three senior BJP leaders of making a 'baseless' allegation against him in connection with a case related to 27 per cent reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Madhya Pradesh.

During the panchayat elections in the state in 2022, the BJP and Congress had indulged in a race for political gain by pushing for a 27 per cent reservation to the OBCs.

The matter was heard in the Supreme Court in 2021 and the apex court after several hearings, halted 27 per cent reservation for the OBCs.

The BJP had then alleged that advocate Tankha opposed the 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in the Supreme Court.

The issue was also highlighted during the panchayat elections, which were fought like a semifinal to the Assembly elections, which the BJP won with an absolute majority two months back.