Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The special designated MPs-MLAs court of Bhopal on Thursday slapped a cost of Rs 1,000 on Congress leader Digvijaya Singh in a criminal defamation case filed by BJP leader VD Sharma after the former called the latter a middleman in the Vyapam recruitment and admission scam.
Sharma filed a criminal defamation case against Singh in 2014. Singh had alleged that Sharma acted as a middleman in the infamous Vyapam recruitment scam.
A Bhopal special court formally framed charges against Singh under IPC sections 499 and 500.
Advocate Ajay Gupta, from Singh side, said, “The cost is not for levelling allegations. This cost is just cost of expenses of witness who could not cross examined as lawyer of Singh was busy in arguing another case in another court.”
Advocate Sachin Verma, who appeared on behalf of Sharma, said, “Not only cost, the court has instructed to ensure cross examination in next hearing.”
District public prosecutor officer (DPO) RajendraUpadhyaya informed Free Press, “Despite repeated extension of dates for cross-examination of witness, Singh’s lawyer did not appear in court for cross-examination, so today, the court slapped cost of Rs 1,000 at Singh in the defamation case filed by Sharma.”
