New Delhi, 27 October (H.S.): Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra will remove a controversial social media post in which she described BJP MP Nishikant Dubey as “the kind of person with a fake degree”, the Delhi High Court was informed on Tuesday.

The submission was made by Moitra’s counsel before a bench of Justice Tushar Rao Gedela. Former Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg also told the court that he would request a podcaster to remove the portion of a podcast video in which Dubey was described as “the kind of person who engages in blackmail”. The High Court issued notices to Moitra and Garg on a defamation petition filed by Dubey.

During the hearing, Moitra’s counsel told the court that the dispute between her and Dubey was political in nature. However, she would retain her right to question Dubey’s academic qualifications, the counsel submitted.

Garg also informed the court that he would ask the podcaster to remove the relevant portion of the video in which he had referred to Dubey as someone who engaged in blackmail.

Dubey has filed two defamation cases against Garg, one criminal and the other civil. The criminal defamation case is pending before the Patiala House Court in Delhi, while the civil defamation suit has been filed before the Delhi High Court. In the civil case, Dubey has sought damages of Rs. 2 crore from Garg.

The two cases stem from Garg’s remarks describing Dubey as a person who engaged in blackmail. Garg had alleged that Dubey visited his office and approached him to get certain work done through the chairperson of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). Dubey subsequently denied the allegations.

The dispute between the two escalated after Garg questioned the first-quarter GDP figures, following the government’s announcement that economic growth stood at 7.8 per cent. Dubey then criticised Garg’s tenure at the Finance Ministry and referred to a letter dated March 2018 addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which had called for a review of Garg’s macroeconomic policies.

Dubey also sent Garg a legal notice through his lawyer, Amit Awasthi. Although Garg responded to the notice, Dubey was reportedly dissatisfied with the reply and subsequently initiated criminal and civil defamation proceedings against him.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar