A DESIGNATED court for MPs and MLAs on Monday transferred a defamation case against Union Home Minister Amit Shah to the Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Kolkata.
The court in Bidhannagar transferred the defamation case, filed against Shah by TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee.
Advocate Brajesh Jha, in his submission, drew court’s attention that the address used in the summon was of Murlidhar Len, which is not the residential address of Amit Shah but of the BJP office. Banerjee’s lawyer Sanjay Basu then provided two addresses – one in Delhi and another in Ahmedabad. Court then transferred the case on the ground that it was outside the court’s jurisdiction.
Now Abhishek Banerjee will have to file a fresh requisition. The court will then enquire and decide whether to summon Shah or not, sources said. After hearing both the parties, the special judge transferred the matter as the addresses were beyond the MP/MLA court’s jurisdiction.
The Bidhannagar special court had on Friday summoned Shah to appear before it in person or send his representative on Monday in a 2018 defamation case filed by TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee.
At a rally in Kolkata on August 11, 2018, Shah had alleged that the people of Bengal did not receive the Centre’s funds because of “corruption” by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek.
As per the submission in the court, Shah had said, “Has the money reached your village? Where did it go? Where? Modi ji has sent it. Where did Rs 3,59,000 crore go? This has been gifted to the nephew and the syndicate. This has been sacrificed at the altar of corruption by the Trinamool Congress.”
On August 13 the same year, Abhishek sent a legal notice to Shah, demanding an apology from him for the allegation. “In the course of your speech you had made various allegations against my client by making a flimsy and thinly veiled reference and/or insinuation to the ‘bhatija’ (nephew) of the Hon’ble Chief Minister of the State of West Bengal,” read the notice.
A fortnight later, a case was filed under IPC section 500 (defamation).
Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/defamation-case-against-amit-shah-transferred-to-kolkata-court-7200298/
