Court case sought prosecution of the controversial accused
Agency
SHILLONG, December 10 2022: Pursuant to the deliberate, derogatory and malicious claims made by Saket Gokhale in a press release dated December 4 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. The Meghalayan Age Limited is a State Govt. company under the aegis of the Planning Department and has been incorporated under Section 2 (45) of the Companies Act 2013.
It has been set up specifically for the implementation of Externally Aided Projects, promotion of tourism, organizing tourism-related festivals/events and preservation of heritage in the State of Meghalaya. The Meghalayan Age Limited has filed the complaint and sought remedies in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, East Khasi Hills District.
The case moved under Section 200 with section 190 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, seeking prosecution of the accused Saket Gokhale for the offence of criminal defamation under section 499, punishable under section 500 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, for making false and defamatory statements in the print/electronic media.
Further, as per the petition, the statements made by the accused also constitute an offence under Section 505 of the IPC which deals with the offence of public mischief.
The complaint highlighted that 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. The Delhi High Court in 2021 had made strong observations against him for making similar defamatory allegations against civil servants.
The 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. The complaint further highlighted that the accused was also recently arrested by the Gujarat Police for disseminating fake news in connection with a tragic incident in the State of Gujarat.
The complaint also pointed out that 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.