Himanta Biswa Sarma, the chief minister of Assam, has filed a criminal defamation lawsuit in Assam’s Kamrup district against Manish Sisodia, the deputy chief minister of Delhi, for allegedly accusing the latter of wrongdoing when awarding a contract for the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) to the firm of his wife Riniki Sarma. A different Kamrup court has ordered Sisodia to appear before it on July 25 after Riniki Sarma, the wife of Himanta Biswa Sarma, filed a defamation complaint against Sisodia last month. She is requesting Rs 100 in damages from the deputy chief minister.
The chief minister’s attorney, Debajit Saikia, stated that his client brought the lawsuit due to the unfounded claims Sisodia made at a press conference on June 4 in Delhi. He added Sisodia had asserted that the state health minister at the time, the chief minister, had given his company an urgent contract for the provision of PPE kits at prices above the going rate. “Sisodia charged [Himanta Biswa] Sarma of corruption without providing any evidence for his claims. Late on Thursday, a lawsuit was filed to contest the accusations and demand redress.
The next hearing date in the case of the chief minister has been set by the court for July 22.
