Alappuzha (Keralam), Nov 11 A court in Keralam has issued notice to BJP leader and former DGP R Sreelekha to appear before it in connection with a criminal defamation complaint against her over her remarks against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at Punalur.
The Mavelikara Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-I issued notice to Sreelekha, also a councillor in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, on a complaint by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) general secretary K P Sreekumar.
The court has asked the BJP councillor to be present on December 2 for recording her statement, Sreekumar said.
He said that his statement and that of witnesses have already been recorded by the court.
Sreelekha, at a party event in Punalur in October, had criticised Gandhi’s protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and likened his actions to those of a person under the influence of drugs.
Her remarks drew widespread criticism from Congress leaders.
In his criminal defamation complaint, Sreekumar has claimed that Sreelekha “falsely and maliciously alleged that Gandhi’s behaviour during a democratic protest in Delhi resembled that of a person acting under the severe influence of drugs and narcotics”.
“The accused (Sreelekha), having previously held the highest law-enforcement office in the state as the Director General of Police (DGP), was fully conscious of the legal and social ramifications of levelling narcotics-related allegations against an individual”.
“Despite having complete knowledge that no such facts existed, she intentionally and maliciously fabricated and published these scandalous imputations. Her remarks were not a matter of inadvertence or opinion, but a calculated and deliberate act of character assassination directed against Gandhi,” the complaint stated.
An FIR has been registered against her in Punalur in connection with the matter on a complaint by a Congress leader.
The case was registered under Section 192 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause a riot.
Sreelekha was the first woman IPS officer from Keralam and retired as DGP before joining the BJP.
She won the local body election from the Sasthamangalam ward of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation last year. However, she lost the Assembly election from the Vatiyoorkavu constituency as a BJP candidate in April this year.
(PTI News)
