Supreme Court gives relief to Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Congress leader's defamation case

New Delhi: In a relief to Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and two others, the Supreme Court on Monday ordered that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders need not be subjected to bailable warrants in a defamation case filed by Congress Rajya Sabha member and senior advocate Vivek Tankha.

A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and S.V.N. Bhatti was hearing a special leave petition filed by former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Chouhan, former Minister Bhupendra Singh Yadav, and State BJP President V.D. Sharma seeking quashing of the defamation case.

Issuing notice returnable in four weeks, the apex court said that "subject to the petitioners' effective participation with counsel as may be needed, before the concerned court, they need not be subjected to bailable warrants".

It took note of the submission that cognisance of the defamation proceedings was "erroneously taken by the concerned court and the same should not have been done in the teeth of Article 194(2) of the Constitution".

In an order passed on October 25, the Madhya Pradesh High Court had rejected a petition filed by the trio of BJP leaders seeking quashing of the trial court order taking cognisance of Tankha’s complaint as well as the defamation case.

A criminal complaint under Section 200 of the now-repealed CrPC was filed in January 2022 by Tankha, who accused the three senior BJP leaders of making a 'baseless' allegation against him in connection with a case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. Tankha, who is considered close to former Chief Minister Kamal Nath, had objected to the allegation made against him as ‘baseless’ and demanded an apology for it. He had also warned that if the BJP leaders didn't tender their apology, he would be compelled to file a defamation case against them. Tankha approached the MP-MLA Court, urging to charge the BJP leaders in the defamation case.