TMC's Saket Gokhale faces defamation case in poll-bound Meghalaya

After his arrest in Gujarat, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Saket Gokhale faced with a defamation case in poll-bound Meghalaya.

The Meghalayan Age Limited, a company under Meghalaya government's planning department on Saturday filed a defamation suit against Gokhale, TMC's national spokesperson, days after he alleged a Rs 632 crore scam in the implementation of a project for the state's tourism infrastructure development.

"The Meghalayan Age Limited has filed the complaint and sought remedies in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, East Khasi Hills district under Section 200 read 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," said a statement issued by Commissioner and Secretary of the Planning department.

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The state government is also likely to file a similar suit against Gokhale and others against the same allegations, it said.

BJP is a minor ally in the National People's Party (NPP)-led government in Meghalaya.

Gokhale on Wednesday alleged that firm had committed a scam of Rs 632 crore in the implementation of an ecotourism infrastructure development project. He had also named Vijay Kumar, the IAS officer, who heads the company.

The state government is implementing the project with a loan from the New Development Bank. Gokhale alleged that tenders for the project were floated secretly.

Meghalaya government was quick to reject the allegations and termed them as false and fabricated. It said the tenders were floated online and all information was available in the website of the Meghalayan Age Limited.

"The false and defamatory allegations against the Meghalayan Age Limited can adversely affect the future prospects of mobilizing projects and externally-aided projects from bilateral and multilateral organizations. This would seriously affect the developmental strategy of the state which is to raise additional investments through externally aided projects for creation of jobs and promotion of economic opportunities in the state," said the government statement.

Assembly elections in Meghalaya are slated early next year. The Trinamool Congress became the largest opposition party in the Northeastern state after 12 MLAs switched over from Congress in November last year.

Former CM Mukul Sangma leads the Trinamool camp in the state. Trinamool has launched a series of allegations against the NPP-BJP coalition government in the run up to the elections.

TMC Chief Mamta Banerjee is scheduled to visit Meghalaya on Monday and Tuesday.

Gokhale was arrested twice in Gujarat this week for his alleged derogatory statement regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi.