A special court granted exemption to Madhya Pr🎀adesh BJP chief VD Sharma, former state chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and ex-state minister Bhupendra Singh from appearﷺing before it in person in a criminal defamation case till June 7.
The court direction came while hear🥂ing the plea of the BJP leaders in a defamation suit filed against them by Congress' Rajya Sabha member and senior Supreme Court a🐎dvocate Vivek Tankha.
Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Vishveshwari Mishra of the special court to hear cases related to MPs and MLAs granted the exemption on🌟 Friday, Shiv Kumar Shrivastava, counsel for respondents, told PTI.
"In defamation cases, respondents have to attend court hearings i♐n person. However, the BJP leaders had sought exemption citing their involvement in the Lok Sabha elections," Shrivastava said.
Congress Rajya Sabha MP Tankha has submitted the BJP leaders tarnished his image by claiming incorrectly that he was involved in a Supreme Court 🔯case relate𝓡d to Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota in panchayat elections in 2021.
Tankha, former MP advocate general, in his statement claimed neither had he participated in any court proceedings related to t🌺he OBC reservation🍰 nor had he filed any petition on the issue.
Besides criminal defamation suit, the Congress leader has also file🐈d a civil defamation suit of Rs 10 crore against Sharma, Chouhan and Singh.
On January 19, the court ordered registration of def﷽amation suit after finding sufficient evidence for trial.
