Thiruvananthapuram: Youth Congress president Rahul Mamkoottathil, who is currently lodged in jail for leading violent attacks during a recent march, has sent a legal notice to CPM state secretary M V Govindan and demanded a compensation of Rs 1 crore for his alleged defamatory remarks regarding the medical certificate which the former had submitted at the Thiruvananthapuram Chief Judicial Magistrate Court seeking bail.
Rahul had produced a discharge certificate and medical certificate at the court seeking bail. However, the court ordered that he be subjected to a medical examination again at the General Hospital. According to the report submitted by the hospital, Rahul was deemed medically fit, and therefore, denied bail. It was after this that the CPM came forward against the certificate produced by Rahul.
Speaking at a programme in Taliparamba in Kannur, Govindan charged that the Youth Congress president had submitted a "fake medical certificate" to obtain bail early this week.
In the legal suit, Mamkoottathil said if the Left leader doesn't tender an unconditional apology in a press conference within the next seven days, Rs 1 crore should be paid as compensation for the damage caused to him due to the "defamatory statements". Terming the remarks as "baseless and false", he said Govindan had made the allegation with a "heinous intention" to tarnish his image.
Responding to Govindan's allegations, the Leader of the Opposition in the assembly, V D Satheesan, challenged him to substantiate his allegations.
Mamkoottathil was arrested by police from his house in Pathanamthitta on Tuesday for allegedly leading violent attacks during a recent march. A court had rejected his bail plea and remanded him to judicial custody later.
(With PTI inputs)
