Shillong: Meghalayan Age Ltd, an enterprise of the state government, has filed a criminal defamation suit against national spokesman of Trinamool Congress Saket Gokhale.
The Meghalayan Age Limited filed a complaint and sought remedies in the court of the CJM, East Khasi Hills district under Section 200 read with section 190 of the CrPC, seeking prosecution of Saket Gokhale for ‘criminal defamation’ under section 499, punishable under section 500 of the IPC, for making false and defamatory statements in the media.
“Pursuant to the deliberate, derogatory and malicious claims made by (Mr) Saket Gokhale in a press release dated December 4, 2022, against the Meghalaya government and the Meghalayan Age Limited, the Meghalayan Age Limited has filed a criminal defamation suit against the said individual,” a press release issued by the Commissioner-Secretary of Meghalaya Planning department, said.
The Meghalayan Age Limited is a Meghalaya government company under the aegis of the Planning Department and has been incorporated under Section 2 (45) of the Companies Act, 2013.
The Meghalayan Age was 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.
As per the petition, the statements made by Gokhale 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 Meghalaya government is also considering filing a civil defamation suit against Gokhale for ‘false, frivolous, unjustifiable and scandalous allegations’ and spreading them through media, which have caused irreparable loss and damage to the reputation of the Meghalaya government and its officials.
