Delhi court reserves order on summons in defamation case by Shekhawat against Raj CM

New Delhi, March 23,2023:  A Delhi court on Thursday reserved the order on the point of issuance of summons in a defamation case filed by Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat against Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot over the latter’s “misleading statements” against him.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Harpreet Singh Jaspal of the Rouse Avenue Court has listed the matter for order on the issuance of summons for Friday after the conclusion of submission and recording of pre-summoning of evidence in the case.

Shekhawat filed a defamation case against Gehlot earlier this month, claiming that the latter made defamatory statements against him in connection with the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam.

He has said that an investigation was initiated in the case but his name was not mentioned anywhere and demanded prosecution against Gehlot for criminal defamation under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He has also demanded appropriate financial compensation for the loss of his reputation.

Earlier, the war of words between Gehlot and Shekhawat had intensified over the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam with the Rajasthan Chief Minister openly declaring the Union Minister “a culprit like the others”.

“The Union Minister is trying to mislead the public in the case of the Sanjivani Cooperative Society Ltd scam. In the investigation of the Special Operation Group (SOG), the crime has been proved against him under the same sections as the other arrested accused.”

Shekhawat had said that Gehlot terming him as an ‘accused’ in the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam is akin to his “political assassination to settle scores”.

“The SOG presented three chargesheets but there is neither my nor my family’s name anywhere. Still, the Chief Minister called me an accused,” he said.