Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife files Rs 10 crore defamation suit against Gaurav Gogoi

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife files Rs 10 crore defamation suit against Gaurav Gogoi

Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, the wife of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, has taken legal action by filing a defamation suit against Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi. The defamation suit amounts to Rs 10 crore and is in response to what Riniki Bhuyan Sarma alleges are “false” allegations made by Gaurav Gogoi regarding irregularities in a food processing project.

The case has been filed in the Court of Civil Judge (Senior Division) of Kamrup Metropolitan, and it is scheduled to be heard on September 26, 2023. Legal proceedings in defamation cases like this typically involve presenting evidence to establish whether the statements made by the accused party were indeed defamatory and false, and whether they caused harm to the reputation of the plaintiff.

Defamation suits are legal actions taken to seek compensation for damage to one’s reputation as a result of false statements or allegations made by another party. In this case, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma is seeking compensation for the alleged harm caused by the statements made by Gaurav Gogoi regarding the food processing project. The court will ultimately decide the outcome of the case based on the evidence and arguments presented by both parties.

Riniki Bhuyan Sarma’s counsel, Senior Advocate Devajit Saikia, has provided additional details regarding the defamation suit against Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi. According to Saikia, the defamation claim is for Rs 10 crore and is related to various tweets made by Gaurav Gogoi concerning a project referred to as “X.” It is emphasized that there was no application made to receive a subsidy for this project, and the allegations made by Gaurav Gogoi were false and damaging to Riniki Bhuyan Sarma’s reputation.

Furthermore, Saikia clarified that the process to seek a subsidy had not been initiated at all. Instead, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma’s firm received a show cause notice on May 26 of the same year, followed by an email from the Ministry of Food Processing. The approval for the project in question was granted on November 22, 2022. In the last email communication, it was conveyed that the firm’s claim would expire if they did not submit their proposal. Therefore, they had not initiated any action to seek a subsidy, contrary to the allegations made against them.

These clarifications underline the basis for the defamation claim and suggest that the accusations made by Gaurav Gogoi were not grounded in fact, which led to reputational damage and prompted the legal action taken by Riniki Bhuyan Sarma. The legal process will ultimately determine the outcome of this case based on the evidence and arguments presented.

The senior advocate representing Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, chairperson, and managing director of ‘Pride East Entertainments,’ has asserted that the information shared by Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi on social media regarding Sarma and her entity was not based on facts. He emphasized that Gogoi had not conducted thorough research and that obtaining approval for a project does not equate to receiving a subsidy.

Furthermore, the advocate declared that they would vigorously contest the case to defend their client’s reputation and assert the accuracy of their claims. This legal action is a response to the allegations made against Riniki Bhuyan Sarma and ‘Pride East Entertainments’ by Gaurav Gogoi on various social media platforms.

The controversy initially emerged when the digital media outlet ‘The Crosscurrent’ published a report alleging that agricultural land in Darigaji village, which had been purchased by ‘Pride East Entertainments,’ was reclassified as industrial land shortly thereafter. Gaurav Gogoi subsequently took to Twitter to level allegations of corruption in obtaining central government subsidies for the project.

The legal process will ultimately determine the validity of these claims and whether any defamation occurred as a result of the social media statements made by Gaurav Gogoi.

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi has sought the intervention of Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal in order to clarify the facts related to the subsidy for a project under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) and the Scheme for Creation of Infrastructure for Agro Clusters. Gogoi emphasized the need to bring transparency to this matter.

He pointed out that on March 22, 2023, Piyush Goyal, while responding to questions in Lok Sabha regarding government initiatives to support industries in Assam, had provided a list of food processing projects supported under PMKSY as of January 31, 2022. In this list, M/S Pride East Entertainment Pvt Ltd was mentioned at Serial No 7, with an approved Grant-in-Aid of Rs 10 crore. This information is also available on the Ministry of Food Processing Industries’ website.

The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) is a comprehensive program aimed at creating modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain management from the farm gate to retail outlets, with the goal of boosting food processing and agricultural industries.

Gaurav Gogoi’s claims had been met with strong opposition from the Assam Chief Minister, who had engaged in a public dispute with the Congress leader regarding this issue. Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, the Chief Minister’s wife and chairperson of ‘Pride East Entertainment Pvt Ltd,’ had even threatened to sue Gogoi for alleged defamation in response to his statements. The matter appears to revolve around the allocation of subsidies and government support for the food processing project in question.