PANJIM: Sulakshana Sawant, the wife of Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, has filed a Rs 100 crore defamation suit against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh for allegedly naming her in a “Cash-for-Jobs Scam” in Goa during a press conference earlier this month. In this edition of Street Voices, Herald TV spoke to people whether the Rs 100 crore defamation against AAP Rajya Sabha member justified when no defamation was filed against Ex Governor Satyapal Malik?
Sulakshana Sawant will have to give the proof of what Sanjay Singh said, she will have to prove what he said amounts to defamation. The entire country has seen the video, where Satyapal Malik has said,” There used to be lot of corruption in Goa. CM used to take money separately, CM’s wife used to take money separately.” He has taken their names and said that they used to take money. But no case was slapped on him. There are only two reason why this defamation case has been filed. They tried to scare us. He thought we would be afraid and sit quiet. We were not scared and we continued to speak on this. I don’t think they had plans to file the defamation case. But due to the Siddiqui case which has come up, the govt has been completely exposed. So is the defamation case filed to deflect attention? This question arises.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
Valmiki Naik, Working President, AAP
There is no need to think why a defamation case was not put against ex Governor Satyapal Malik. The answer is very clear, Satyapal Malik was a very senior leader of the BJP. When the BJP was nowhere, he was the Vice President and one of the founding members of the BJP. He is not a small leader, he is a huge leader in Haryana. If he asks people to come out on the streets in Haryana, not thousands, but lakhs of people will come out. That is the power of that man. When he says something, these people do not have the guts to file a defamation against him. He didn’t take their names, he just said CM and CM’s wife. At that time it was only a Goa issue and they tried to sweep it under the carpet. If they had to file a defamation, it would have gone to the whole of India. But today people do know.
Francis Coelho, Member AAP, Goa
Actually the ruling party should have the capacity to face criticism. Every statement and every charge does not mean that you are being defamed by the people. You give them a chance to speak out what they think. If you are innocent, it should not hurt you. It should not disturb you at all. Secondly, as far as this matter is concerned with respect to the wife of the CM, much before this ex Governor Satyapal Malik had directly made a charge, directly made a reference against the wife of the chief minister, but there no such case was filed.
Savio Coutinho, Member, Congress
