After getting exemption from personal presence in Apex Court last year, all eyes were on March 26 hearing in defamation case filed by Congress Rajya Sabha member and senior Advocate Vivek Krishna Tankha against BJP leaders Shivraj Singh Chouhan, VD Sharma and Bhupendra Singh. Now the hearing will be held on April 24. Tankha had filed the defamation case over the alleged statements of Chouhan and other BJP leaders over the OBC reservations issue in the year 2021 and sought Rs 10 crore in damages in the MPMLA Court. The Congress leader alleged that the trio had tainted his reputation by making statements against him in the media. The Supreme Court on November 11, 2024, gave relief to Union Minister and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, BJP State President and MP VD Sharma, and former minister Bhupendra Singh in a defamation case by exempting them from appearing before the lower court during the hearing.

 

Tankha’s contention says Shivraj Singh Chouhan had made derogatory statements against him during the Madhya Pradesh Panchayat elections. The Union Minister moved the Supreme Court demanding the cancellation of the case, days after the Madhya Pradesh High Court had rejected his demand. The matter emerged after the Supreme Court had junked 27 per cent OBC reservation in the Panchayat elections in Madhya Pradesh in 2021.

 

Tankha had moved the court on behalf of the petitioners regarding rotation and delimitation in the Panchayat and civic elections. It is alleged that the BJP leaders had made statements against him, calling him anti-OBC. In this month on March 19, the Supreme Court extended its earlier order exempting Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan from personal appearance before a trial court in connection with a criminal defamation case lodged against him by Congress MP Vivek Tankha.