New Delhi. A special court in West Bengal has issued a summons to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday in connection with a defamation suit filed by Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee on February 22 to appear in person or through a lawyer. The special judge of the court hearing the cases related to MPs and MLAs in Bidhannagar directed that Shah is required to appear ‘in person or through a lawyer’ at 10 am that day.
Abhishek Banerjee’s lawyer Sanjay Basu claimed in a press note that Shah had made some derogatory statements against the Trinamool MP at a BJP rally on Mayo Road in Kolkata on August 11, 2018. The court directed that Shah’s presence in person or through a lawyer is required under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code to answer the charge of defamation.
“We are looking at the legal aspect of the court order,” said Brijesh Jha, co-convenor of the BJP’s legal cell after the court summoned on the case registered against Shah. The BJP on the other hand has also commented on the matter. The party said that this was a sign that the ruling party of West Bengal had become “uneasy” with Shah’s election campaign. BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli claimed that the Trinamool Congress was trying to prevent Shah and other BJP leaders from campaigning in the state.
.