SHILLONG, Dec 10: The Meghalaya government has filed a criminal defamation suit against Trinamool Congress (TMC) national spokesperson Saket Gokhale while he lodged a police complaint against Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong for calling him a “psycho”.
“Pursuant to the deliberate, derogatory and malicious claims made by Saket Gokhale in a press release dated 4th December 2022, against the Government of Meghalaya, the Meghalayan Age Limited and state government officials; the Meghalayan Age Limited has filed a criminal defamation suit against the said individual,” stated the Commissioner and Secretary, Planning, in a statement issued on Saturday.
The defamation suit was filed in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, East Khasi Hills district under Section 200 (read with Section 190 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973) seeking the prosecution of Gokhale “for the offence of criminal defamation under Section 499, punishable under Section 500 of the IPC for making false and defamatory statements in the print/electronic media.”
The government said the statements made by the TMC leader constitute an offence under IPC Section 505 which deals with the offence of public mischief.
It was alleged Gokhale is a habitual offender with little regard for the process of law and has a history of making false and baseless allegations against public personalities and government officials.
Pointing out that the Delhi High Court had in 2021 made strong observations against him for making similar defamatory allegations against civil servants, the complaint stated, “The Hon’ble Delhi High Court had also said that Gokhale should have carried out preliminary due diligence before making any such statements and that he should have sought clarifications from the person against whom the allegations were made”.
Further, the complaint highlighted Gokhale’s recent arrest by the Gujarat Police for allegedly disseminating fake news in connection with a tragic incident in the state. A basic attempt to seek clarification from the Meghalayan Age Limited as mandated by the Delhi High Court would have shown that the allegations are baseless without any merit, the complaint read.
It said the “false and defamatory” allegations against the Meghalayan Age Limited can adversely affect the prospects of mobilising projects and externally-aided projects from bilateral and multilateral organisations.
“This would seriously affect the developmental strategy of the state which is to raise additional investments through Externally Aided Projects for the creation of jobs and the promotion of economic opportunities in the State. It must be noted that under any Externally Aided Project being implemented in the northeastern states, the Government of India passes 90% of the funding as grants to the State government,” the complaint said.
It further stated, “The Government of Meghalaya is also considering filing a civil defamation suit against the said individual and other entities for making completely false, frivolous, unjustifiable and scandalous allegations and spreading them through print/electronic/social media, which have caused irreparable loss and damage to the reputation of the Government of Meghalaya and its entities/officials”.
Earlier, Gokhale had claimed about alleged financial anomalies involving Rs 632 crore in the Meghalaya Ecotourism Infrastructure Development Project.
Meanwhile, he lodged his complaint against Tynsong with the East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police alleging that the Deputy CM had on December 16 made a statement in the press referring to him (Gokhale) as a psycho.
“The undersigned is a public figure and has a stellar reputation. By insinuating that the mental state of the undersigned is improper, the accused has committed criminal defamation against the undersigned which is liable for prosecution u/s 499 of the IPC,” Gokhale wrote.
He requested the SP to immediately register a complaint under Section 499 IPC against Tynsong for criminal defamation.
