Supreme Court defers Shivraj Singh Chouhan's defamation case

The Supreme Court of India has delayed the hearing date in a defamation case involving Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The new date for the hearing is set for March 26, 2025. The case was brought by Congress MP Vivek Tankha, who accuses Chouhan and two other BJP leaders of making false statements against him. Tankha claims the BJP leaders launched a "malicious" campaign to damage his reputation. He argues that they falsely accused him of opposing Other Backward Class (OBC) reservation during the 2021 Panchayat elections in Madhya Pradesh. The Supreme Court previously allowed Chouhan to skip personal appearances in the trial court related to this case. Chouhan's lawyer, Mahesh Jethmalani, argued that the comments made by the BJP leaders were protected under Article 194(2) of the Constitution. This article states that members of a state legislature cannot be sued for things they say during official proceedings. There was also a discussion about the appropriateness of bailable warrants being issued against the leaders when they could appear through lawyers. Tankha is seeking ₹10 crore in compensation and is pushing for criminal defamation proceedings against the BJP leaders. He insists that the leaders’ statements harmed his reputation. The BJP leaders deny the accusations, claiming that the evidence submitted by Tankha does not support his claims of defamation. A special court in Jabalpur has already agreed to examine the case.