A day after the Opposition UDF said the criminal defamation case filed by Deputy Mayor P.T. Abdul Latheef was a face-saving gesture to gloss over the corruption allegations against him, the LDF Council Party hit back on Thursday.
In a war of words, LDF councillors supported Mr. Latheef’s case, saying they had made it very clear from the very beginning that defamation proceedings would be initiated against IUML councillor K. Mohammedali for making personally damaging comments about Mr. Latheef and Public Works Standing Committee chairperson M. Mohanan during a council meeting on October 3.
The LDF Council Party said the UDF’s stand against the Deputy Mayor was a mere eyewash to divert attention from the defamation charges.
“The defamation action was initiated to highlight and question the character assassination resorted to [by Mr. Muhammedali],” an official statement released by the LDF Council Party said. The statement slammed the UDF for “obstructing development in the city by making unwarranted insinuations based on falsehoods.”
Hoarding
The UDF had decided to support IUML councillor K. Muhammedali, contending it was ludicrous on the part of the Deputy Mayor, who faced several corruption charges himself, to initiate defamation proceedings. Mr. Latheef had filed a case against Mr. Muhammedali for accusing him of taking a bribe of Rs.5 lakh from an advertisement agency for installing a hoarding at Kelappaji Park.
Mr. Muhammedali had alleged that the Deputy Mayor and Mr. Mohanan had accepted a bribe for allowing illegal advertisement hoardings in the city. Mr. Mohanan had been named a witness in the case.
The defamation case was filed with the Kozhikode Judicial First Class Magistrate Court – I under Section 500 (punishment for defamation) of the Indian Penal Code. The Deputy Mayor had complained that the councillor’s allegations against him had caused him mental agony.
Magistrate P.T. Prakashan has issued summons to the accused and posted it for March 28, 2014.
