LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Jal Shakti Minister Mahendra Singh on Friday filed a civil defamation suit against AAP MP Sanjay Singh over his allegation of corruption in a Jal Jeevan Mission scheme of the state government.
The minister has sought Rs 21 lakh in damages.
Registering the suit as a regular case, the civil judge (senior division) issued summons to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP for November 25 to file his reply.
The minister's lawyer Prashant Singh Atal said he also requested the court to direct Singh to remove the video footage and posts on social media wherein he used derogatory language and levelled false allegations against the minister.
"I had sent Sanjay Singh legal notice asking him to tender an apology in public and withdraw his statement but since he has not done so, there is no option other than to file the instant defamation suit," the minister stated in his plea.
In August, Singh had accused the state's Jal Shakti Ministry of giving contracts worth thousands of crore rupees to a tainted company.