Manish Sisodia asked to appear before Assam court 

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had filed a defamation case against the Delhi Deputy CM for accusing him of corrupt practices during COVID-19 lockdown

GUWAHATI

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has been directed to appear before a lower court in Assam’s Kamrup district on November 19 in connection with a criminal defamation case filed by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Mr. Sarma had filed the case against Mr. Sisodia in June after the latter accused him of corruption in the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) kits during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.

On Monday, the Gauhati High Court dismissed Mr. Sisodia’s petition seeking to cancel the summon by the Kamrup Chief Judicial Magistrate and the case against him. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader had moved the high court when the lower court summoned him after Mr. Sarma filed the case.

“The High Court quashed the Delhi Deputy Chief Minister’s petition and asked him to appear before the CJM court on November 19,” Assam’s advocate general Devajit Saikia said.

Mr. Sisodia had alleged that the Assam Chief Minister had awarded a contract for PPE kits to a company linked to his wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma at ₹990 per piece while the same item was procured from others at ₹660 per piece. Mr. Sarma was then the Health Minister in the Sarbananda Sonowal government.