Delhi, India: On March 24, a Delhi Court directed Delhi Police to probe whether Congress leader and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot addressed Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat as an “accused” in the Sanjeevani Scam case.
ACMM Harjeet Singh Jaspal directed the Joint Commissioner of Police to investigate the matter either himself or through another officer not below the rank of Inspector. Furthermore, the Court directed the Delhi Police to file the investigation report by the next hearing.
The Court directed that the Delhi Police’s investigation report must answer the following questions:
- “Whether the complainant herein Sh. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat was addressed as ‘an accused’ in the Sanjeevani Scam by the accused herein Sh. Ashok Gehlot?
- Whether the accused herein Sh. Ashok Gehlot stated that the allegations against the complainant Sh. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat stand proved in the Sanjeevani Scam?
- Whether the complainant herein Sh. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat or his family members have been arrayed as ‘an accused’ in the investigation of the Sanjeevani Scam?”
The Court noted that “as per the complainant the said false, uncalled, derogatory and defamatory statements have been made by the accused with aim to tarnish the image of the complainant in the eyes of the general public, the voters and his kith & kin, with the object of gaining an undue political mileage.”
Furthermore, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has alleged that accused Ashok Gehlot “is frustrated because the complainant defeated the son of the accused in the last elections by huge margin and thus, as per the complainant, the statements made by the accused are a political vendetta.”
The Court was hearing a matter wherein Gajendra Singh Shekhawat alleged that Ashok Gehlot called him and his family members, including his deceased mother, an “accused” in the Sanjeevani Scam case.
Furthermore, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat alleged that Ashok Gehlot claimed that the allegations against Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and his family stand proven, even though neither he nor his family members have been named in the Special Operation Group’s chargesheet in the Sanjeevani Scam case.
The Court observed that “Whether or not the statements of the accused constitute defamation against the complainant, largely rests upon the investigation, being undertaken by the Special Operation Groups (SOG), in the Sanjeevani Scam matter.”
“What needs to be seen is whether the complainant herein is actually an accused in the said matter or whether the complainant has no bearing/involvement in the said matter. It is on the basis of the answer to these questions the merits of the offence of defamation, as alleged by the complainant, can be decided,” the Court added.
It is pertinent to note that another Congress leader and former MP Rahul Gandhi was convicted by a Surat District Court in a 2019 criminal defamation case and sentenced to two years imprisonment over his remarks on the ‘Modi’ surname. Furthermore, Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha u/s Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
