Manish Sisodia withdraws challenge to Gauhati High Court refusal to quash defamation case by Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday withdrew his plea in the Supreme Court challenging an order of the Gauhati High Court that refused to quash defamation proceedings initiated against him by Assam Chie Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma. (Manish Sisodia v. State of Assam and anr).A Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and AS Oka said that Sisodia should have issued an unconditional apology and further observed,"Once you reduce public discourse to this level, you have to face the consequences. You should have put an unconditional apology...Instead of realising what the country was going through (during the COVID-19 pandemic), you are just making statements...If you feel you are entitled, argue (there) and get the case dismissed," the Court said..Appearing for Sisodia, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi sought permission to withdraw the petition, which the Court granted."Learned counsel seeks liberty to withdraw the petition as petitioner states to bring these contentions at the stage of notice (in the trial court). Dismissed as withdrawn," the Court said in its order..The Gauhati High Court had last month refused to quash the criminal defamation case filed by Sarma against Sisodia, leading to the present appeal.Justice Kalyan Rai Surana of the High Court had stated determined that Sisodia was not able to make out a case for quashing and, therefore, dismissed the petition..In his complaint, the Assam CM alleged that he was defamed by Sisodia at a press conference where the latter made allegations of corruption against him. Later, a video of the same was uploaded on the YouTube channel of Aam Aadmi Party.Sisodia in the press conference had alleged that the Assam government had given contracts to the firms of Sarma's wife and his son’s business partner to supply Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits above market rates during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when Sarma was the State's Health Minister.After Sarma filed a defamation case, Sisodia was summoned to appear in the proceedings. .The High Court had found that Sisodia was unable to prove that he was performing the function of a public servant by holding the press conference under his party's banner, and hence ruled that sanction under Section 197 Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was not required.After examining the transcript of the press conference, the Court further concluded that Sisodia was unable to show that his statements were merely a reproduction of material available on the internet.It opined that if undeserving Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) benefit was available to any company, it was for the concerned authorities to add-back the amount and enforce the laws on CSR funds..[Read order]