Court restrains Congress leaders from making 'defamatory statements' against Assam CM Himanta

Guwahati: A court in Guwahati restrained Congress leaders Gaurav Gogoi, Bhupesh Baghel and Jitendra Singh from making "defamatory statements" against Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has filed a Rs 500 crore defamation case.

After hearing the petitioner's counsel, Civil Judge of Senior Division No 1, Nayanjyoti Sarma, ordered an 'ad-interim injunction' on Wednesday, restraining Gogoi, Baghel and Singh, besides a prominent Assamese daily, from "making, publishing, circulating or disseminating any further defamatory statements or materials concerning the petitioner till their appearance in court".

Judge Sarma, in his order, stated that the court is of the opinion that if an order of 'ad-interim injunction' is not passed, it will "defeat the justice and there is every possibility of multiplicity of proceedings".

The court fixed the date of appearance of the defendants before it on March 9.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Advocate General Devajit Saikia said the CM's counsel argued that the details of all properties and assets belonging to him and his family have been filed in the affidavits of all the elections he has contested since 2001.

Besides, according to the rules of the state government, all ministers, including the CM, and senior government officials have to declare their assets annually, and Sarma has been doing it regularly, Saikia said.

The AG said the CM has also been a regular income tax assessee for over 30 years.

"Contrary to the Congress allegations, all his wealth, properties and assets are reflected in Income Tax filing, Register of Societies, Assam government's records and election affidavits," he said.

"Despite everything being in the public domain, the Congress made baseless allegations. From where did they get the so-called information that 12,000 bigha of land is under the control of the CM and his family? This is imaginary, and the court has been informed about it," Saikia said.

The AG said Sarma was unanimously elected leader by his party MLAs in 2021, and thus the other allegations made by the Congress are also absolutely "false, imaginary and to mislead the people of the state".

"As elections in the state are due soon, the Congress is trying to gain political advantage by defaming the CM," he said.

"There is nothing like 'HBS Tax' prevalent in the state, as alleged by Congress, which is trying to gain political brownie points, and this has hurt the CM. There is a legal recourse, and he has gone to the court," he added.

The CM, in his petition, said the Congress leaders should prove the allegations in court with evidence and if they fail to do so, they should pay a damage of Rs 500 crore.

Saikia said the court, after examining all the documents submitted by the petitioner, passed the ad-interim stay order.