<p>Jabalpur: A court here on Tuesday issued a bailable warrant against former Madhya Pradesh chief minister <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/india/madhya-pradesh/congresss-decision-to-not-attend-ram-temple-consecration-ceremony-has-put-party-leaders-in-spot-shivraj-singh-chouhan-2959591">Shivraj Singh Chouhan</a>, state BJP chief V D Sharma, and former state minister Bhupendra Singh for not furnishing undertakings in a criminal defamation case. </p><p>The case is based on a complaint filed by Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha. </p><p>Magistrate Vishveshwari Mishra of the special court for cases against MPs and MLAs issued bailable warrants on Tuesday, and asked the three BJP leaders to appear on May 7, said their lawyer Shyam Vishwakarma. </p>.Defamation case: Ex-CM Chouhan, others get exemption from appearance till June 7.<p>On March 22, 2024, the court had granted Chouhan and the other two exemption till June 7 from appearing before it. It also asked them to furnish certain undertakings. But it was not clear what kind of undertakings were to be furnished, advocate Vishvakarma said, adding that the BJP leaders then moved the court on Tuesday seeking a clarification. </p><p>The court order of Tuesday was not available yet. </p><p>Tankha, a senior Supreme Court lawyer and former state advocate general, alleged in his complaint that the BJP leaders tarnished his image by wrongly claiming that he was involved in a Supreme Court case related to OBC quota in 2021 Panchayat elections in the state. He has also filed a civil defamation suit against Sharma, Chouhan and Singh, demanding damages of Rs 10 crore.</p>
<p>Jabalpur: A court here on Tuesday issued a bailable warrant against former Madhya Pradesh chief minister <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/india/madhya-pradesh/congresss-decision-to-not-attend-ram-temple-consecration-ceremony-has-put-party-leaders-in-spot-shivraj-singh-chouhan-2959591">Shivraj Singh Chouhan</a>, state BJP chief V D Sharma, and former state minister Bhupendra Singh for not furnishing undertakings in a criminal defamation case. </p><p>The case is based on a complaint filed by Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha. </p><p>Magistrate Vishveshwari Mishra of the special court for cases against MPs and MLAs issued bailable warrants on Tuesday, and asked the three BJP leaders to appear on May 7, said their lawyer Shyam Vishwakarma. </p>.Defamation case: Ex-CM Chouhan, others get exemption from appearance till June 7.<p>On March 22, 2024, the court had granted Chouhan and the other two exemption till June 7 from appearing before it. It also asked them to furnish certain undertakings. But it was not clear what kind of undertakings were to be furnished, advocate Vishvakarma said, adding that the BJP leaders then moved the court on Tuesday seeking a clarification. </p><p>The court order of Tuesday was not available yet. </p><p>Tankha, a senior Supreme Court lawyer and former state advocate general, alleged in his complaint that the BJP leaders tarnished his image by wrongly claiming that he was involved in a Supreme Court case related to OBC quota in 2021 Panchayat elections in the state. He has also filed a civil defamation suit against Sharma, Chouhan and Singh, demanding damages of Rs 10 crore.</p>