Assam CM's wife files Rs 10 crore defamation suit against Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi
Guwahati, September 23: Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, the wife of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, has filed a defamation lawsuit amounting to Rs 10 crore against Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi for making "unfounded" accusations concerning irregularities in a food-processing project.
According to senior advocate Devajit Saikia, who is representing her, the lawsuit was lodged in the Court of Civil Judge (Senior Division) in Kamrup Metropolitan on Friday, and it is scheduled for proceedings on September 26.
"My client has filed a defamation lawsuit amounting to Rs 10 crore against Gaurav Gogoi based on several tweets posted on X. We want to emphasize that we have never submitted any application to obtain a subsidy," he further stated.
Saikia said there had been no initiation of the subsidy application process. In fact, his client's firm received a show-cause notice on May 26 this year, followed by an email from the Ministry of Food Processing.
"The project received approval on November 22, 2022. In the most recent email correspondence, we were informed that our claim would expire if we did not submit our proposal. It's important to clarify that we are not pursuing any subsidy application," he added.
The senior advocate argued that the information shared by Gogoi on social media regarding Sarma and her entity 'Pride East Entertainments' was devoid of factual basis.
He (Gogoi) failed to conduct proper research. Obtaining project approval does not equate to receiving a subsidy. We are fully committed to vigorously defending our case," he affirmed.
A row unfolded following a report by the Guwahati-based digital media outlet 'The Crosscurrent,' alleging that approximately 17 acres of agricultural land in Darigaji village, Kaliabor, Nagaon district, was reclassified as industrial land shortly after being acquired by Pride East Entertainments. The company's Chairman and Managing Director is the Chief Minister's wife.
In response to this, Gogoi took to Twitter for several days, making allegations of corruption against Sarma and his wife in relation to obtaining a Central Government subsidy for the project.
- With inputs from agencies
