Sr Adv Vivek Tankha Agrees To Withdraw Defamation Case Against Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan

The Supreme Court today disposed of Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's plea seeking quashing of the criminal defamation case filed against him by Congress MP and senior advocate Vivek Tankha in view of a settlement between the parties.

A bench of Justice MM Sundresh and Justice N Kotiswar Singh recorded the withdrawal of the proceedings by Tankha and closed the case pending before the Court.

“My client and Mr Tankha met at the Parliament and settled the matter amicably. Mr. Tankha will withdraw the civil suit for defamation against my client and the criminal defamation complaint”, Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani for Chouhan informed the Court.

The defamation cases arose from alleged statements made by Chouhan and others in December 2021 in connection with Supreme Court proceedings relating to OBC reservation in Madhya Pradesh Panchayat elections, in which Tankha had appeared as counsel. Tankha alleged that he was falsely portrayed as being against OBC reservation.

In the impugned order, the Madhya Pradesh High Court had declined to interfere with the criminal proceedings holding that it was not a stage to discard the material placed by the complainant as inadmissible. It was further held that issues such as good faith and public good under the exceptions to Section 499 of the IPC required a trial.

The High Court observed that the sufficiency and admissibility of evidence, including reliance on media reports, could be tested only during trial and that the Magistrate was required only to see whether a prima facie case existed at the stage of cognisance.

On November 11, 2024, the Supreme Court exempted Chouhan from a bailable warrant issued by a Magistrate in the criminal defamation case, subject to his participation in the proceedings. The Court also issued notice on Chouhan's plea challenging the order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court which had refused to quash the Magistrate's order taking cognisance of the complaint.

Case no. – SLP(Crl) No. 15212/2024

Case Title – Shivraj Singh Chouhan v. Vivek Krishna Tankha