Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Saturday reserved its order on a petition by Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and others challenging a special court order in a criminal defamation case filed by Congress Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha.
Chouhan and others have challenged the special court order of March 22 and April 2 this year related to their personal appearance in the defamation case filed by Tankha.
A single judge bench of Justice Sanjay Dwivedi heard the arguments of both the sides and reserved its order on the petition. The court has heard the senior counsels from both sides and reserved its order, Advocate Varun Tankha told PTI.
Talking to the reporters after arguing the case, Supreme Court senior advocate Kapil Sibal said, “This matter (defamation case) is not of senior lawyer Vivek Tankha. We advocates perform our responsibility by contesting cases in the court. If outside court some allegations are made which they (advocates) know is fake, and professional reputation is harmed, then it is dangerous for society as a professional is doing his duty and on basis of it justice is done by the court.” Sibal said the allegations made against Vivek Tankha are baseless and accordingly notices were served on him (former chief minister Chouhan).
Tankha, also a senior Supreme Court lawyer, has claimed Madhya Pradesh BJP president VD Sharma, former CM Chouhan and ex-minister Bhupendra Singh tarnished his image by alleging he was involved in a Supreme Court case related to the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota in the state panchayat elections in 2021.
In his statement, Tankha claimed he had neither participated in any court proceedings pertaining to the OBC reservation nor had he filed any petition on the issue. Tankha has also filed a civil defamation suit of Rs 10 crore against Sharma, Chouhan and Singh.
