KOLKATA: West Bengal Leader of Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday said he would take legal action against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, saying that the time given to her to respond to a defamation notice has expired.
In a post on X, Adhikari said the Chief Minister's failure to reply has exposed the "imaginary" nature of her allegations linking him to an alleged coal scam.
"Mamata Banerjee seems to be at wits end. The time given to Mamata Banerjee vide the Defamation Notice on my behalf has now expired and being in a fix has prevented her from replying. The Chief Minister by her conduct has made it clear that her imaginary allegations pertaining to me being involved in a coal scam was a product of her insalubrious mindset. Get ready to face legal consequences in the Court. Mamata Banerjee, now I will see you in Court," Adhikari said in his post.
This comes after Adhikari on Friday sent a legal notice to the Chief Minister, demanding that she produce evidence within 72 hours to substantiate her claims that he was involved in a coal smuggling case. He had warned that failure to do so would compel him to initiate appropriate civil and criminal defamation proceedings.
In an earlier post on X, Adhikari said the allegations were made in a "desperate attempt to divert attention" from an ongoing Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation. He described the remarks as defamatory, politically motivated, and damaging to public discourse.
"These reckless statements, laced with personal insults, were made publicly without any shred of evidence. Such unsubstantiated claims not only tarnished my reputation but also undermine the dignity of public discourse," he had said.
The legal notice, sent through advocate Suryaneel Das, came after Mamata Banerjee publicly alleged that Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Suvendu Adhikari were involved in the alleged coal scam, claiming that money from the scam was routed to Amit Shah through Adhikari. The Chief Minister made these remarks while addressing a public gathering amid protests against an ED raid at Kolkata's I-PAC office.
In the notice, Adhikari termed Banerjee's statements as "reckless, baseless, and wholly unsubstantiated," and objected to what he described as personal and distasteful remarks aimed at maligning his reputation as a public representative. The notice called upon the Chief Minister to furnish all documents and materials supporting her claims within the stipulated period.