Kolkata court summons BJP chief Amit Shah regarding defamation case filed by TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee

A metropolitan magistrate court in Kolkata summoned Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah on Wednesday in connection with a defamation case filed against him by Trinamool Congress, reports said. [caption id=“attachment_5071551” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of BJP chief Amit Shah.[/caption] Trinamool Youth Congress chief Abhishek Banerjee had filed a defamation suit earlier on Wednesday alleging that the BJP president has made slanderous statements against him at a public rally on 11 August in Kolkata. Banerjee had appeared before the eighth bench of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Kolkata and filed written submission, claiming Shah has made defamatory statements against him. On 13 August, a legal notice was sent to Shah in which Banerjee had sought an apology for allegedly making defamatory statements against him and had warned that if the BJP chief did not apologise, he will file a criminal defamation case against him, reported Zee News. The notice to Shah said, “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. Since, it is well known that my client is the nephew of Smt. Mamata Banerjee and is actively involved in politics, the contents of your speech left little to the imagination of my client’s well-wishers that you were referring to my client.” Banerjee’s lawyer Sanjay Basu claimed the “false statements” against his client has caused grave loss and prejudice to his client’s reputation. Basu said his client “denies the allegation that he is involved in any purported diversion of public and/or government funds to the tune of Rs 3,59,000 crore or any other sum purportedly allotted from the Centre to the State of West Bengal”. He has sought that Shah desists from making or circulating defamatory statements causing publication of the same in any media against his client. With inputs from PTI