Court summons Manish Tewari over Nitin Gadkari's defamation case

A local court on Friday took cognisance of a defamation complaint filed by BJP leader Nitin Gadkari against the Union Minister Manish Tewari, and issued process against the Congress leader.

"The court has taken the cognisance of the defamation case and issued process against Tewari. The court has also issued summons to Tewari," said Gadkari's lawyer, advocate Rameshwar Gite.

Gadkari dragged Tewari to the court in December 2010, when the latter, as Congress spokesperson, allegedly accused the former BJP chief of holding `a benami' flat in the scam-tainted Adarsh Society here.

As per Gadkari's complaint, Tewari told reporters that Ajay Sancheti, a close associate of Gadkari, had a benami flat in Adarsh Society in the name of his driver.

Gadkari says in the complaint that this was false and defamatory, and Tewari should be tried for criminal defamation under the Indian Penal Code.