High Court Seeks Reply In Defamation Suit Against BJP MLA

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The principal bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Jabalpur on Friday ordered the state government to submit a reply within two weeks in a defamation case filed against BJP MLA Sanjay Pathak.

A single-judge bench of the High Court, presided over by Justice Pramod Kumar Agrawal, has sought a response from the state government regarding a case involving defamatory statements made by Pathak.

While hearing a petition filed by Katni-based arms dealer Nazim Khan on Friday, the HC directed the state government to submit details of the action taken on the complaint. The next hearing in the matter has been scheduled for July 6.

Petitioner Nazim Khan told Free Press that Pathak made public statements that caused serious damage to his reputation.

The petition states that the MLA had levelled allegations such as the disappearance of 14,000 cartridges from Nazim's stock, the sale of illegal weapons and the facilitation of arms licences for individuals with criminal backgrounds.

Terming these statements false, baseless, and defamatory, the petitioner has sought legal action. Initially, Pathak tried to frame me in the murder case of Nilu Rajak, BJP Pichhara Morcha president.

Pathak alleged that I had provided a gun for the murder. But when the police did not register a case against me, his next step was the missing cartridges issue. So, I filed a defamation case.