Manish Sisodia’s Appeal Against Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma Is Rejected By The Supreme Court
Manish Sisodia, the deputy chief minister of Delhi, had petitioned the Supreme Court on December 12 to have Himanta Biswa Sarma, the chief minister of Assam, drop his defamation case against him.
Sisodia has since withdrawn the appeal after the Supreme Court decided not to hear it further. The petitioner could have extended an unequivocal apology sooner, the court added.
On December 12, the matter was heard by a bench made up of Justices S K Kaul and A S Oka.
Senior attorney A M Singhvi, who represented Sisodia, asserted that the petitioner had never claimed that money was taken and that it was improper to use one’s position of authority to browbeat people.
For making baseless accusations of corruption against Sarma about the sale of PPE kits to the National Health Mission (NHM) authorities at higher than market pricing during the first wave of the Covid-19 outbreak, Sarma launched a criminal defamation action against the AAP leader. Sarma has refuted Sisodia’s allegations that he favored his wife’s business, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma while serving as Assam’s health minister.
The petitioner was making accusations, the court remarked, rather than understanding what the nation was going through during the pandemic.
Sisodia had informed reporters, citing media sources, that although the Assam government purchased PPE kits from other businesses for Rs 600 each, Sarma had placed urgent supply orders with the businesses of his wife’s and son’s business partners for Rs 990 each.
A CBI investigation into the alleged corruption was also urged by the opposition Congress, CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML)-Liberation, RCPI, TMC, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, and Anchalik Gana Morcha.
In a joint investigative report published on June 1 of this year, the digital media outlets “The Wire” in New Delhi and “The Crosscurrent” in Guwahati claimed that the Assam government had placed four orders for emergency medical supplies related to Covid-19, most likely without following the correct procedures.
News Mania Desk
