Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was asked to appear before a lower court in Assam on November 19 for hearing in a criminal defamation case filed by his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma. On Monday, A Single Judge Bench of the Gauhati High Court comprising Justice Kalyan Rai Surana has refused Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister, Manish Sisodia’s, plea to quash the criminal defamation case filed against him by the Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Sisodia had moved the high court after the lower court had summoned him in the case.In June, Sisodia alleged that the Assam Chief Minister awarded a contract for COVID-19 personal protective equipment (PPE) kits to a company linked to his family members and overpaid for the gear.
Subsequently, Sarma filed a criminal defamation case against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, Sisodia, before the court of chief judicial magistrate in Kamrup district.He had also deposed before the lower court in connection to a defamation suit that he filed against Sisodia for allegedly maligning his family’s reputation in a PPE kit deal during the Covid19 pandemic.