Published 19:57 IST, February 7th 2020
Manish Sisodia sends defamation notice to Parvesh Verma for accusing him of corruption
Slamming BJP leader Pravesh Verma for alleging corruption, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia on Friday has slapped a defamation notice for his 'corruption allegations'.
Slamming BJP leader Parvesh Verma for alleging corruption, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia on Friday has slapped a defamation notice for his 'corruption allegations'. The notice claims that Verma knowingly made false and defamatory statements to harm Sisodia's reputation. He has demanded that the BJP leader issue an apology to Sisodia and revoke his statements.
Defamation notice to BJP neta
Pravesh Verma alleges Sisodia's 'corrupt' involvement
After the arrest of Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Sisodia - Gopal Krishna Madhav, BJP leader Parvesh Verma alleged that Madhav's corruption extended to Sisodia. Alleging that Sisodia was involved in the bribery charges slapped on Madhav, he said that Sisodia was using the money to fund Shaheen Bagh. Delhi is set to go to polls on February 8.
"OSD is just a name. His owner is our deputy CM Manish Sisodia. All this money goes into his pocket, which he then uses to feed biryanis to Shaheen Bagh," he said at a press conference.
Arrest of OSD, Sisodia's reaction
In a late-night operation on Thursday, the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested Gopal Krishna Madhav, a Delhi government official who was working as the OSD to Sisodia. As per sources, he was caught red-handed while receiving a bribe worth Rs.2,00,000 to settle a matter related to Goods and Services Tax. During questioning, PTI sources also revealed that no involvement of the Delhi Deputy CM had surfaced so far.
In response, Sisodia acknowledged that the arrested person worked as his OSD. He called for the strictest punishment to be meted out to Madhav. Moreover, he claimed that he had helped arrest many corrupt officers in the last 5 years.
Pravesh Verma's controversial statements
During his campaign, the West Delhi MP had said, "Lakhs of people gather at Shaheen Bagh. People of Delhi will have to think and make a decision. They will enter your houses, rape your sisters and daughters, kill them. There is time today, Modi Ji and Amit Shah won't come to save you tomorrow..." Varma had also taken a jibe at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and called him a "terrorist," in an interview with a news channel. Following this, the EC slapped a 96-hour campaign ban on him.
Updated 20:10 IST, February 7th 2020