HMT land deal: SMK seeks public apology from corporator

Former External Affairs Minister and senior Congress leader S M Krishna’s advocates on Wednesday issued a show cause notice to BJP corporator N R Ramesh, asking him to issue a public apology for making “baseless” allegations against Krishna and trying to “defame” him in the process.

The law firm S A Advocates has charged Ramesh with subjecting Krishna to “extreme anguish and disgust” by making “irresponsible, baseless and un-substantiated allegations” with regard to the alleged sale of properties owned by HMT.

The firm has asked Ramesh to pay Rs five crore as damages and publish a public apology in media across the country within seven days from the date of receipt of the notice.

In the event Ramesh fails to comply with these demands, the law firm would initiate legal proceedings to file a defamation suit against him. “The remarks are false, baseless, and highly defamatory. Our client’s reputation has been lowered in front of his friends and public,” R Shivcharan of S A Partners stated in the notice.

Krishna in Delhi

Krishna left for New Delhi on Wednesday evening, apparently on the instructions of the Congress high command. According to sources in the party, the high command has sought an explanation from Krishna about his absence from most of the party meetings and programmes in the State. Krishna, who had not been part of big events such as the Congress padayatra, had also absented himself from the Chintan Shivir meeting of the AICC in Jaipur recently. During the meeting scheduled for Thursday, the high command is likely to discuss the election strategies.