MP High Court Issues Notice On Arms Dealer's Defamation Complaint Against BJP MLA Sanjay Pathak
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has issued notice to the State Government in a case filed by Nazim Khan, a licensed arms dealer, seeking directions to consider and decide his defamation complaint against BJP MLA Sanjay Satyendra Pathak. The bench of Justice Pramod Kumar Agarwal, after accepting the State's prayer seeking time to obtain instructions, listed the matter after two weeks. Per...
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has issued notice to the State Government in a case filed by Nazim Khan, a licensed arms dealer, seeking directions to consider and decide his defamation complaint against BJP MLA Sanjay Satyendra Pathak.
The bench of Justice Pramod Kumar Agarwal, after accepting the State's prayer seeking time to obtain instructions, listed the matter after two weeks.
Per the petition, in 2024, Khan had deposited arms and cartridges lying with him in safe custody/repairing, which were not taken back by the concerned license holders despite intimations, at the Police Station of Ranganath Nagar in Katni district.
Thereafter, the petitioner submitted written intimations to the Collector and sought permission for depositing the remaining stock in the District Nazarat/Collectorate and for surrender of his dealer license. The permission was granted on October 8, 2024, but it was withdrawn the very next day, on the grounds that physical verification of the stock was required.
Subsequently, a joint committee was constituted, and the stock was verified on May 14, 2025, following which a report was filed on July 15, 2025, confirming that the stock was correct and tallying with the record. However, no order to submit the stock was passed.
The petition stated that despite receiving a clean sheet from the authorities, Pathak publicly made "false, baseless and defamatory allegations" on October 28 and 29, 2025. Per the petition, Pathak claimed that around 14,000 cartridges were missing, along with some guns and that no action was taken against the petitioner.
It is claimed in the petition that such statements by Pathak were widely circulated through social media, causing serious damage to the reputation and dignity of the petitioner. Aggrieved, he had also issued a legal notice to Pathak. Thereafter, the petitioner submitted a complaint to the Police Station of Madhav Nagar, but no action was taken.
He further lodged a complaint before the CM Helpline, after which a second joint enquiry was constituted by the Collector and the District Magistrate of Katni for fresh verification of the petitioner's stock. This enquiry also verified the stock of the petitioner, which was found to be correct.
Thereafter, the Collector and District Magistrate issued an order directing the petitioner to submit the entire stock. He complied with the order.
Aggrieved by the police's inaction, Khan approached the High Court.
Case Title: Nazim Khan v State of Madhya Pradesh, WP-19436-2026
For Petitioner: Advocate Puneet Shroti
For Respondent: Government Advocate Santosh Yadav