GUWAHATI: A former Congress minister and now a BJP leader in Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday filed a Rs 100 crore defamation civil suit against Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for making allegation that Sarma was involved in various scams including the Sharadha chit fund scam, Louis Berger bribery scam etc.
Sarma told media here on Tuesday that he had filed the defamation case against the chief minister on the basis of news report published in a leading English Daily that the latter accused him of being involved in several scams, including a chit fund and Louis Berger bribery scams. The English Daily has also been made party in the defamation case.
The BJP leader said he would also file a criminal case against the chief minister for making such wild allegations.
“The chief minister has been accusing me of being involved in various scams. If he has any evidence to prove his allegations, he should come and present those in the court,” Sarma said.
Once a trusted lieutenant of Gogoi and one of the most influential ministers in the state, Sarma quit the Congress earlier this year after falling out with Gogoi and joined the BJP in September this year.
