The political battle between the CPM and Trinamool Congress spilled over to the legal arena on Tuesday after Union Minister of State for Shipping Mukul Roy filed a criminal defamation against the state Housing Minister Gautam Dev for making allegations that Trinamool was using black money to fund its campaigning.
Roy filed a civil defamation suit of Rs 15 crore against Dev at Calcutta High Court under Section 200 of the CrPC and Section 500 of the IPC.
Roy’s counsels,Rajdeep Mazumdar and Anindya Rauth,told the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court at Bankshall court that Dev’s remarks at a press conference on April 16 maligned his client’s image. The counsels told the court that that Dev had alleged that Mukul Roy was a key man involved in the distribution of black money among the 225 Trinamool candidates.
To show that his image has taken a beating after Dev’s press conference,Roy in his petition stated that a day after the CPM leader made the allegations,retired IPS officer Rajat Mazumdar Dr Shantanu Sen — whom Roy knew — had come to his house and express their doubt about the honesty of Trinamool Congress leaders.
The court today recorded the statement of both Mazumdar and Sen. After the hearing Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Rabi Ranjan Chakraborty directed the initiation of proceedings against Dev. The next hearing in the case has been scheduled for May 26 and Dev have been told to appear before the court.
The CPM leader,meanwhile,said he was not aware of the court case against him.
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