After having given a blow to the main Opposition Congress in the State Assembly on Thursday, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday filed a criminal defamation case against Congress leader and leader of Opposition in State Assembly, Ajay Singh, for harming his and his wife Sadhna’s reputation.
The plaint-petition was filed in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Sanjay Pandey here. It demands damages of Rs 1 crore from the leader of Opposition. Ajay, making corruption accusations against the couple, had reportedly dubbed Chouhan’s wife as ‘money counting machine’ at a rally at Khargone on June 4 and Sagar on June 9 this year.
It was pointed out in the plaint that while addressing a public meeting during Parivartan Yatra at Sagar, Singh had said, “The currency counted on Sadhna Bhabhi’s machine’ and at Khargone he said, “Chief Minister should tell the real identity of Sadhna Bhabi.” News clippings of different newspapers reported the event, have also been submitted along with the complaint.
Petitioners Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Sadhna Chouhan sought that court should direct Ajay Singh to pay Rs 1 crore. The amount would be used to rehabilitate the families affected by recent tragedy in Uttarakhand, adds the petition. The baseless allegations were damaging as they were published in widely circulated dailies in the State, it further mentioned. The court would record the statements of Chouhan and his wife on July 30.
Earlier, the Chief Minister had issued a notice to Ajay, demanding unconditional apology on June 20, 2013. However, in the reply sent by Ajay Singh, he had backtracked from the statements allegedly delivered by him during his public meeting in Sagar. He claimed that he did not speak out anything in the Sagar meeting, which was mentioned in the newspaper on whose basis the notice was served.