Patna, Oct 16 RJD MP Sudhakar Singh on Friday wrote an “open letter” to Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, drawing his attention towards a defamation notice received from senior IPS officer Kundan Krishnan, currently posted as director general of the Special Task Force (STF).
Singh shared his letter, addressed to Choudhary, as well as the notice he received from Krishnan on social media.
In the six-page legal notice, issued by a law firm on behalf of the IPS officer, the Buxar MP has been accused of intentionally making and publishing defamatory, false and disparaging statements against Krishnan.
According to the notice dated October 6, Singh, at a press conference in June this year, alleged a “pivotal role” of Krishnan in the Bharat Tiwari encounter case in Bhojpur district, even though the matter was being probed by a judicial inquiry commission.
The notice has also charged him with having made “unfounded” allegations against the officer again last month, in an interview he gave to a news portal in the backdrop of a series of cases of molestation reported from different parts of the state.
The RJD leader has been asked to tender an apology within 15 days of the receipt of the notice, failing which a defamation suit would be filed on behalf of Krishnan, seeking damages to the tune of Rs 5 crore.
However, the MP appeared to have stuck to his guns in the open letter, in which he sought to know from the chief minister whether the officer had sought the government’s approval before issuing the notice.
Singh claimed that such an approval was mandated under the rules governing the conduct of government servants, both at the Centre and in the state.
“As the minister in charge of the Home Department, please let me know if permission was granted to Kundan Krishnan by you or your government. If not, let him undergo a fresh training for learning the rules,” said the MP, striking a defiant note.
Neither the chief minister’s office nor Krishnan has responded to the allegations levelled by Singh, who also accused the officer of being “high-handed” and considering himself “a ruler and not a government servant”.
(PTI News)
