The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear AAP leader and Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia’s appeal of the Gauhati High Court’s decision to uphold the Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s criminal defamation action against him. Prior to this, CM Sarma accused Sisodia of making a defamatory allegation about him and launched a defamation lawsuit against Sisodia.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was earlier on September 29 summoned by the CJM court in Kamrup of Assam.Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma filed a defamation lawsuit against Sisodia. AAP leader Sisodia accused Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of corruption a few months ago during a press conference in Delhi for awarding contracts for COVID PPE kits to his wife’s business and his son’s business partner during the pandemic.
He claimed that the Chief Minister likewise paid more for the identical equipment.A civil defamation lawsuit for Rs 100 crore was then brought against Sisodia for allegedly connecting Riniki Bhuyan Sarma to claims of corruption in the state’s PPE kit delivery in 2020. Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, the wife of the Assam chief minister, had already filed a civil defamation lawsuit against the Delhi minister for Rs 100 crore.
Sisodia had asserted that Himanta Biswa Sarma had given the contract to his wife’s company, and he claimed to even have the relevant evidence.Sisodia has claimed that although some PPE kits were purchased from one company on the same day for Rs 600 each, Biswa Sarma paid Rs 990 for them.Sarma responded by disputing the claims of “malpractice” and asserting that Sisodia will be charged with slander.
