Kolkata: BJP IT Cell chief and the co-in-charge of the party’s West Bengal unit Amit Malviya on Monday sued Santanu Sinha, an RSS member, over his derogatory social media post accusing Malviya of taking sexual favours.
Some media reports said Malvia has sought Rs 10 crore as defamation from Sinha, who is a relative of BJP’s former national secretary Rahul Sinha.
Earlier, Malviya’s counsel served a legal notice to Santanu Sinha on June 8 asking the latter to tender a public apology and also remove the slanderous social media post within three days from the receipt of the legal notice, failing which legal proceedings, both civil and criminal, would be initiated.
Sources said that the three-day deadline will expire on Tuesday and appropriate legal actions will be initiated against Sinha if he fails to abide by the directions given in the legal notice served to him on June 8.
As per the legal notice, since the slanderous social media post has been reported by a section of the media having a wide readership, especially in Delhi, it has impacted Malviya’s reputation beyond West Bengal.
“Resultantly, your defamatory post has lowered the image of my client in the eyes of the public. That your post is a serious allegation against my client who is a respectable member of society and has further dampened his reputation while causing him mental agony. Your alleged post is a deliberate intent to mislead the public and malign the reputation of my client,” the legal notice read.
Sinha's Facebook post on May 7 was highlighted by the opposition parties, including Congress and Trinamool Congress, in a major way and both held press meetings on the issue.
(With IANS inputs)
