Provide evidence or face defamation: Suvendu Adhikari's counsel to CM Mamata on her coal smuggling charge

Kolkata, Jan 10 Two senior BJP leaders in West Bengal, namely the leader of the opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhiakri and state vice-president of BJP, Jagannath Chattopadhyay, have challenged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to prove her allegations on their involvement in the coal smuggling case within a reasonable point of time or face defamation.

The counsel of Adhikari had already sent a notice of defamation to the Chief Minister, asking the latter to provide all purported evidence in the matter within 72 hours or face defamation proceedings, both civil and criminal.

On the other hand, Chattopadhyay had released a video message on the wall of his social media handle challenging the Chief Minister to either prove her allegations within a reasonable time or face defamation proceedings.

Chattopadhyay, who was the state general secretary of the BJP in West Bengal, was elevated to the position of the state vice-president in the recently announced new state committee of the party.

The reactions of both Adhikari and Chattopadhyay, challenging the Chief Minister in the matter, came amid her public statements in the last few days that "the proceeds of the coal smuggling cases in West Bengal reached the level of the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, through Chattopadhyay or via Adhikari".

Chattopadhyay had also pointed out that during the peak period of coal smuggling in West Bengal from 2016 to 2020, he was a journalist, and he quit journalism and joined the BJP after that, before the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections.

"During that period from 2016 to 2020, I did several reports as a journalist on the alleged coal smuggling scam in West Bengal. I am still in possession of the supporting documents for my news reports. So far, as a BJP leader, I have never made public the documents that I collected as a journalist before joining politics. But now, since my personal image has been maligned, if necessary, I will make those documents public. Will that be good for the image of the Chief Minister and her party?" questioned Chattopadhyay in his video message.

"I challenge the Chief Minister to provide all purported evidence in the matter within 72 hours or face the legal consequences," Chattopadhyay said.

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