New Delhi, 29 September (H.S.): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament Nishikant Dubey has filed two defamation cases against former Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg. A criminal defamation case has been filed before the Patiala House Court in Delhi, while a civil defamation suit has been filed before the Delhi High Court. In the civil defamation suit, Dubey has sought damages of Rs 2 crore from Garg.

Dubey filed the two defamation petitions over a statement in which Garg allegedly described him as a person who engages in blackmail. Garg had claimed that Dubey had visited his office and approached him seeking his intervention with the Chairman of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to get certain work done. Dubey subsequently denied the allegations.

The dispute between the two escalated after Garg questioned the first-quarter GDP figures. The government had reported a GDP growth rate of 7.8 per cent. Following this, Dubey criticised Garg’s tenure at the Finance Ministry. Dubey also referred to a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2018, in which he had called for a review of Garg’s microeconomic policies.

Dubey had earlier issued a legal notice to Garg through his lawyer, Amit Awasthi. Garg responded to the notice, but Dubey was not satisfied with his reply and subsequently proceeded to file criminal and civil defamation petitions against him.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar