‘Have no knowledge about sexual harassment case lodged against me in 2013’: Jharkhand CM

Reacting to BJP parliamentarian Nishi Kant Dubey’s allegations, Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren has said that he had no knowledge of the ‘sexual harassment’ case filed by a woman against him in Mumbai’s lower court back in 2013. The CM’s disclosure came in his Rs 300 crore defamation suit filed against Dubey and two others in a Ranchi court.

Godda parliamentarian, Dubey, in a series of tweets between July 27-29, had levelled sexual assault allegations against Soren. He had highlighted the seven-year-old ‘sexual harassment’ case lodged by a woman against Soren in Mumbai and alleged that Soren had then misused his office to settle the case.

Dubey alleged that such an allegation against the chief minister was a shame on democracy. “Mumbai police should re-investigate the matter,” Dubey had tweeted on July 28.

Reacting to Dubey’s comment, on July 29, Soren had tweeted that he would give a befitting reply to Dubey within 48 hours.

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Following this, Soren filed the aforesaid defamation suit in a Ranchi court on August 4 against Dubey, Twitter and Facebook, seeking compensation of Rs 100 crore from each of the defendants.

Soren, in his plaint, disclosed that he had not entered into any settlement or compromise with the lady who had allegedly filed the complaint against him.

“In fact, the plaintiff (Soren) was not aware of the purported complaint till the defendant (Dubey) tweeted and posted about the same,” Soren said in his plaint.

He stated that he had instructed his lawyer in Mumbai to carry out a search of the court records. Due to the limited functioning of the court in prevailing pandemic situation and during religious holidays, the lawyer has not been able to provide any information to him, the chief minister said.

He stated that he would bring on record the facts in relation to the woman’s complaint whenever these come to his knowledge in future.

Soren said that it transpired from Dubey’s tweets and Facebook posts that the woman had withdrawn her complaint out of her own volition within few days of filing the complaint and that too before the first date of hearing.

“Defendant number 1 (Dubey) knows well that the plaintiff (Soren) has not entered into any settlement with the lady... He has made the tweets and posts with actual malice. In order to further disseminate his malicious statement, he has published the same by tagging popular name and widely followed persons...,” Soren said.

He argued that the derogatory statements, amounting to an attack on his moral character, were made to lower his reputation in public estimation and excite adverse opinion against him.

The Ranchi court, which had issued notices to Dubey and others admitting Soren’s defamation suit, is likely to hear the plaint on Saturday.

“We have received the court’s notice and we will present our defence on the next date of hearing tomorrow,” said Dubey’s lawyer Diwakar Upadhyay.