Amit Malviya to file criminal defamation case against lawyer Santanu Sinha over 'slanderous' remark

Kolkata: Senior BJP leader Amit Malviya on Wednesday said he would file a criminal defamation case against Kolkata-based lawyer Santanu Sinha for allegedly making 'slanderous' comments against him in a social media post.

In a post on X, Malviya said, "Santanu Sinha's slanderous Facebook post on June 7, 2024, has created a spectre of a compromised political system, that thrives on objectifying women. It views working relationships, across genders, in public life, to binaries, which is demeaning, particularly towards women".

"It is therefore not surprising that the Trinamool Congress and the Indian National Congress, who should have otherwise spoken for dignity of women, chose to disseminate and propagate the falsehood", the head of BJP's IT cell posted.

Malviya added, "On 8th June, my advocates served a legal notice on Santanu Sinha, demanding an unqualified conditional apology. Sinha's subsequent retraction of June 11, 2024, is qualified and not unequivocal. It also fails to meet the demand, as laid out in the legal notice. His purported apology is deeply problematic and reductionist".

He said "The alleged post was defamatory, calculated and malicious. The wide dissemination by opposition parties has added to the defamation", adding "as such, I have decided to pursue criminal defamation against Santanu Sinha, under appropriate sections of the IPC. Other civil remedies may also follow, as would be advised".

Kolkata-based lawyer Santanu Sinha, who was served a legal notice for making "false and defamatory allegations" against Malviya, on Tuesday claimed that his statements were "misinterpreted".

Sinha also said he will not withdraw the post but expressed "heartfelt sorrow" if it hurt Malviya.

"If my post hurts Mr Malviya and/or undermines my party for such misinterpretation and edited version, I do express my heartfelt sorrow for the same. Since I have not written anything untoward in my post, with the mission to malign, I am not withdrawing the post, the bone of contention," he said in a Facebook post.

Malviya has already sent a legal notice to Sinha for making "false and defamatory statements" against him and demanded an apology.

In the legal notice, Malviya's lawyer said Sinha, in a post on Facebook, made "some false and defamatory allegations" with an intention to harm his client's reputation.