NEW DELHI: The High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to BJP leader Maneka Gandhi in a defamation case filed by Indian Veterinary Association (IVA) claiming that she threatened and abused doctors. The leader made phone calls to the doctors and published derogatory remarks against them, said the association in its civil suit. The notice was issued by Justice Amit Bansal.
The civil suit was filed by the association through its president Dr Umesh Chandra Sharma and treasurer Dr Vijay Kumar. The BJP MP was caught in a row with the Indian Veterinary Association (IVA) after purported audio clips of her abusive and threatening phone calls to three veterinarians were circulated on social media last year in June.
In the audio clip which went viral, she was in a telephone conversation with Dr Vikas Sharma, a veterinarian in Gorakhpur, and was heard accusing him of carrying out a shoddy amputation on a dog. The conversation is reported to have occurred on June 17. Gandhi had purportedly threatened to “take away” Sharma’s licence if the dog dies. “I will take away your licence” she said.
In the audio clip she purportedly asked Dr Vikas his surname, and then said that he is a “blot (kalank)” on his family’s name. “What does your father do, is he a gardener or chowkidar? Are you even literate,” she purportedly said. Sharma responded that his father is a teacher. In the suit it has been stated that Maneka also wrote and published an article in a newspaper where she made defamatory statements and imputation against the veterinary profession.
Last year, a couple of audio clips went viral where she was purportedly heard threatening and abusing the doctors. When this reporter contacted Gandhi’s office, there was no response on the same. She also did not respond to repeated calls and text messages.
2 Burari water bodies to be revived
New Delhi: In a bid to expedite the process of cleaning the Yamuna River and achieve highest recreational standards for all water bodies in Delhi, the Delhi Government has planned to rejuvenate and develop two water bodies in Burari. The government has revived the two lakes of the region and will develop them with state of the art infrastructure to provide landscapes to residents.
In this regard, Water Minister Satyendar Jain inspected the water bodies at Burari and directed the officials to develop them as safe open spaces, today. A total of 250 water bodies and 23 lakes are being revived by Delhi government in the first phase as a part of its massive endeavour to transform Delhi into a city of lakes.