Today, the Supreme Court has temporarily halted the execution of a bailable warrant against Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and two BJP leaders in a defamation case filed by Congress MP Vivek Tankha. The Court requires their participation in proceedings while questioning a Madhya Pradesh High Court’s refusal to dismiss the case related to statements made during the 2021 elections.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday paused the execution of a bailable warrant issued against Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and two other senior BJP leaders in a defamation case brought by Congress Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha. The decision came from a bench led by Justices Hrishikesh Roy and S.V. Bhatti, who also requested Tankha’s response to a plea from Chouhan and others challenging an October 25 Madhya Pradesh High Court order that had refused to quash the defamation case.
In its directive, the bench stated,
“The execution of bailable warrants against the petitioners shall not be executed subject to their effective participation in the proceedings before the court in the case.”
This allows Chouhan and his associates to avoid immediate arrest while requiring them to remain actively engaged in the trial process.
Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, representing Chouhan and the other BJP leaders, argued that the statements referenced in Tankha’s complaint were made on the floor of the legislative house and therefore fell under the protections provided by Article 194(2) of the Constitution. This article provides immunity to state legislators, stating:
“No member of the Legislature of a State shall be liable to any proceedings in any court in respect of anything said or any vote given by him in the Legislature or any committee thereof…”
Jethmalani further contended that issuing a bailable warrant in a summons case was an unusual step, as typically, the accused can be represented by their legal counsel in court.
The defamation case, filed by Tankha, dates back to statements allegedly made by the BJP leaders during the campaign for the 2021 Panchayat elections in Madhya Pradesh. Tankha claims these statements were defamatory, and as a result, he filed a formal complaint in a Jabalpur special court. On January 20, 2024, the court registered the defamation case under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), summoning the three leaders to appear in court.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court had previously declined to dismiss the case on October 25, which led Chouhan and the others to seek relief from the Supreme Court. With the Supreme Court’s stay, Chouhan, BJP state president V.D. Sharma, and former minister Bhupendra Singh can avoid the immediate implications of the bailable warrant while the legal proceedings continue.
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