A Delhi court on Friday ordered the Delhi Police to investigate a criminal defamation suit filed by Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat against Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot over remarks linking the former to the alleged Sanjivani co-operative scam in Rajasthan, reports Vineet Upadhyay.
According to the suit filed by Union Jal Shakti minister Shekhawat on March 4, Gehlot defamed him and his family, including his deceased mother, by referring to them as an “accused” in the Sanjeevani scam.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Harjeet Singh Jaspal ordered the concerned joint commissioner of police to “investigate the matter either himself or through an officer not below the rank of an inspector” and submit a report by April 25.
The Union minister claimed that while Gehlot stated that the claims against him were proven, neither he nor any of his family members were mentioned in any of the chargesheets filed in the matter, nor were they ever summoned by the investigative agency or the court.
Gehlot made false, uncalled, disrespectful, and defamatory statements, according to Shekhawat. He further added that Gehlot is frustrated since he defeated the latter’s son in the last elections by a large margin, and that the allegations made by the accused (Gehlot) constitute a “political vendetta.”
