Chhattisgarh High Court on Monday stayed the FIR against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Raman Singh and Sambit Patra in the 'toolkit' case, reported news agency ANI.
According to a Bar and Bench report, Justice Narendra Kumar Vyas observed that the FIR against former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh was registered out of political grudge
"Considering the facts of the case and perusal of FIR, prima face no case is made out against the petitioner and criminal proceedings is manifestly attended against the petitioner with malafides or political grudge," the Court held.
What is the 'toolkit' case?
Last month, several BJP leaders took to Twitter and shared two documents. The first was a 'toolkit', which they claimed to be made by the Congress party to tarnish the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Centre amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The second was a document on the Central Vista Project.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said according to the document, it is clear that the Congress extending help to the needy during the pandemic is "more of a public relations exercise with the help of friendly journalists and influencers than a soulful endeavour".
Patra alleged that the 'toolkit' has instructions for social media volunteers of Congress to call the new COVID-19 mutant as "Indian strain" or "Modi strain".
"Today, there is a toolkit going rounds in media by Congress on COVID-19 pandemic. Through this toolkit, the country can see that how Congress is trying to strengthen its political ambitions when the country is in the midst of a health crisis. Congress is trying to defame the government of India, and thousands of people who are doing good work," Patra said.
He said there is a column in the 'toolkit' on "Prime Minister Narendra Modi's image", and under that there are instructions to "destroy his image and erode his popularity".
Patra further alleged that the toolkit has instructions to use "international media coverage by foreign correspondent in India that can be tailored to exclusively focus on Modi and his mismanagement", and "liaison with these foreign journalists and Indian oped writers in foreign publications and brief them on talking points." He said it also has instructions to "use dramatic pictures of funerals and dead bodies which is already being done by foreign media" and facilitate journalist by "local cadre in various districts to get the images".
Later, the Congress party said the document on Central Vista Project was authentic, however, the 'toolkit' was fake. The grand old party also lodged complaints against several BJP ministers, party president JP Nadda and spokesperson Patra in Delhi. In Chhattisgarh, the FIR had been registered based on a complaint filed by Akash Sharma who is the State President of the National Student Union of India (NSUI).
