The Supreme Court on Monday provided relief to Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in a criminal defamation case initiated by senior advocate and former Congress MP Vivek Tankha. Chouhan, represented by senior advocates Mahesh Jethmalani and Maninder Singh, had requested permission to appear in court through a lawyer instead of in person, following the issuance of bailable warrants by a Jabalpur trial court to secure his presence. A bench led by Justice Hrishikesh Roy granted this request, stating that Chouhan could be represented by his lawyer.
The case stems from a dispute in 2021, when Tankha represented a petitioner opposing the Madhya Pradesh government’s decision to hold local body elections without rotating reserved seats for Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Tankha succeeded in obtaining a stay on the election process, but his legal actions led Chouhan, then Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, to make statements that Tankha alleges portrayed him as being against OBCs, though Tankha maintains that his concern was limited to the rotation policy.
Earlier this year, the Jabalpur trial court admitted Tankha’s defamation complaint, which Chouhan attempted to have dismissed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court. However, the high court rejected his plea in October, leading him to file his petition in the Supreme Court, where he was granted temporary relief. The Supreme Court has also issued a notice on Chouhan’s petition, signaling further judicial consideration of the matter.
