SC issues notice to Smriti Irani on Sanjay Nirupam's plea

New Delhi, Apr 22: The Supreme Court on Monday has issued notice to Bharatiya Janata Dal (BJP) leader Smriti Irani on an appeal of Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam seeking to set aside the summons issued against him by a trial court in a criminal defamation complaint filed by Irani, the ANI reported.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi agreed to examine the plea filed by Nirupam and issued a notice to Irani seeking her response into the matter.

The apex court's decision comes after Nirupam's appeal against Delhi High Court's December 20, 2018 order in which it had refused to quash summons issued against him.

In one case, the Delhi High Court had quashed the summons issued against Irani in a defamation complaint filed against her by Nirupam. The high court, however, had dismissed a similar plea of Nirupam seeking to set aside the summons issued against him in a cross defamation complaint filed by Irani.

The high court, on December 19 last year, had said the case against Nirupam will continue.

Earlier, Irani had filed a complaint against Nirupam for allegedly defaming her during a debate on a private television news channel and the court had framed charges against the Congress leader for using derogatory and indecent language against the Union Textiles Minister.

Nirupam had also filed a counter-complaint against Irani, saying she had made defamatory and derogatory comments against him.