Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Gautam Gambhir on Tuesday filed a defamation suit against Punjab Kesari and sought ₹2 crore in damages for calling him "Bhasmasur" in one of its articles.
Gambhir filed the suit in the Delhi High Court against the newspaper, its editor Aditya Chopra as well as correspondents Amit Kumar and Imran Khan over the alleged derogatory terms used against the former India cricketer.
Gambhir wants the money to be given to charitable organisations and demanded an apology from the defendants. He also wants the apology to be published in all newspapers (including digital versions) circulated by Punjab Kesari.
In his suit, filed through advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai, Gambhir cited a bunch of reports to claim that paper gave a misleading spin to its stories. One of the reports even went on to compare him with the mythical demon 'Bhasmasur', it was contended.
The matter will be heard by Justice Chandra Dhari Singh on Wednesday.
What Punjab Kesari wrote about Gambhir
Punjab Kesari termed him as "Sansad Gautam Gambhir Lapata Gali-Gali Me Lage Poster (MP Gautam Gambhir goes missing, posters come up in streets)", "Dilli ke lapata Sansad Lucknow Super Giants ke liye bane Bhasmasur (Delhi's missing MP becomes Bhasmasur for Lucknow Super Giants)" and "Adesh Gupta bolte reh gaye, Gautam Gambhir uth chale (Adesh Gupta kept talking, Gautam Gambhir left)."
Gambhir argued that these reports create a false and deeply defamatory narrative regarding his work and bona fides as a parliamentarian in the minds of readers.
"It is the respectful case of the Plaintiff that the pattern of these defamatory publications is indicative of a willful campaign launched by the Defendants to lower the reputation and standing of the Plaintiff in the eyes of his constituents, supporters, and the public at large The Defendants undertook no effort to confirm or corroborate the veracity of their publication – which further points out their collective malaise against the Plaintiff," the suit stated.
