A court here Friday issued summons to union minister Smriti Irani in a defamation case filed against her by Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam.Metropolitan Magistrate Dheeraj Mittal issued the summons to Irani and asked her to appear before it Sep 27. Nirupam has said his reputation has been dented due to the scurrilous, defamatory and derogatory comments of accused Irani during a TV debate. "That the accused (Irani), a member of parliament of the BJP defamed the complainant (Nirupam) by making direct aspersions on his character," the complaint, filed through advocate R.K. Handoo, said.
He requested court to prosecute the accused for offence under section 499 IPC, punishable under section 500 (defamation). He added Irani by her defamatory utterance has harmed the complainant's reputation and exposed complainant to hatred and ridicule even in the estimate of other politicians. He further said: "The complainant is paying heavily in terms of loss to his reputation and political career apart from the mental agony and torture caused for the scurrilous and defamatory comments and allegations made by accused (Irani)."