Minister of State for Information and Infrastructure Santosh Lad said here on Friday that he was contemplating filing defamation suit against the Samaj Parivartan Samudaya head S.R. Hiremath.
Speaking to presspersons on the sidelines of the Rajyotsava function, Mr. Lad said that Mr. Hiremath’s campaign had portrayed him in bad light. He said that his counsel were exploring the possibilities of legal action against Mr. Hiremath, including filing a defamation suit, for what he said a malicious campaign against him.
Mr. Lad contended that all documents released by Mr. Hiremath were in public domain. Mr. Hiremath did not produce any new documents. Whatever documents he had in his possession were verified by the investigating agencies and even produced for perusal in the Supreme Court long ago. The media too should understand this fact. Mr. Hiremath’s campaign against him might be based on “certain evil intentions”, he alleged.
Asked about the cases filed against Mr. Hiremath within no time of the complaints that were filed against him (the Minister), Mr. Lad said that the government had taken these steps within the purview of law and declined to comment further.