Manish Sisodia's plea to subdue defamation case filed by Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma rejected by SC

Digital Desk: On Monday, the Supreme Court (SC) rejected Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's petition challenging a Gauhati High Court ruling denying his plea for quashing a criminal defamation case filed against him by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. 

"You must face the consequences if you limit public debate to this level," a Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul told senior counsel AM Singhvi, who represented Sisodia. 

Sisodia had appealed the Gauhati High Court's November 4 ruling dismissing his plea for quashing Sarma's criminal defamation prosecution. 

The Bench stated that the petitioner was making such charges instead of realising what the country was going through during the pandemic.

Sarma had filed a criminal defamation complaint against Sisodia for making "baseless" corruption claims against him in connection with the sale of PPE kits to National Health Mission (NHM) officials at "higher than market rates" during the first wave of the Covid outbreak. 

The AAP leader said that Sarma, as state Health Minister in 2020, had approved supply orders to his wife's firm. While such PPE kits were obtained from others for Rs 600 each, it was said that they were purchased from a company run by Sarma's wife for Rs 990 per kit. These charges were refuted by Sarma. 

Singhvi told the Bench that Sisodia never said anything about money being seized.