A special court granted exemption to Madhya Pradesh BJP chief VD Sharma, former state chief minister Shivra꧅j Singh Chouhan and ex-state minister Bhupendra Singh froജm appearing before it in person in a criminal defamation case till June 7.
The court direction came while hearing the plea of the BJP leaders in ཧa defamation suit filed against them by Congress' Rajya Sabha member and senior Supreme Court advocate 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 in person. Howeve🌞r, the BJP leaders had sought exemption ciౠting 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 related to Otꦗher 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 the OBC rꦯeservation nor ha🐟d he filed any petition on the issue.
Besides criminal defamation suit, the Congress l♉eader has also filed a civil defamation suit of Rs 10 crore against ꦐSharma, Chouhan and Singh.
On January 19, the court ordered registration of defamation suit after 🦩finding sufficient evidence for trial.
